Kathleen de la Peña McCook

Kathleen de la Peña McCook
Nationality	American, Irish, Hispanic
Alma mater	University of Illinois at Chicago, Marquette University, University of Chicago, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Occupation	Professor, Librarian

Kathleen de la Peña McCook is a library scholar, librarian, and activist. Much of her work centers around "social justices, human rights and First Amendment issues."^[1]

McCook has been active in a number of professional organizations within the field of librarianship. She was highly involved in the American Library Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship.^[2] She is a lifelong member of REFORMA, served on the organization's 1997-1998 board of directors,^[3] and was the recipient of their 2016 Elizabeth Martinez Lifetime Achievement Award.^[4] She is a past president of the Association for Library and Information Science Education.^[5]

According to a Library Quarterly study, McCook was among the top 20 American library and information science (LIS) researchers.^[3] Her textbook, Introduction to Public Librarianship, is frequently used in LIS courses.^[6]

McCook has taught full-time since 1978.^[1] She has served on the faculties of Dominican University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Louisiana State University. Currently, she is serving as a distinguished university professor at the University of South Florida's School of Information. She also served as 2003 scholar-in-residence for the Chicago Public Library.^[5]

Education

McCook began her collegiate studies at University of Illinois at Chicago and completed her B.A. in English. She then attended Marquette University, earned an M.A. in English, and enrolled at University of Chicago Graduate Library School, where she received a M.A. in Library Science degree. She then attended University of Wisconsin–Madison, School of Library and Information Studies. There she was named Outstanding Alumni. Her academic specializations (in relation to libraries) include the following.^[7]

• Human rights
• Social justice
• Community-building
• Poverty
• Adult lifelong learning and literacy
• Theories of reading
• Cultural heritage institutions
• Public librarianship
• Wikipedia and knowledge management

Career

She began her career as a teacher for Latino communities in Chicago Public Schools as a teaching assistant for Marquette University’s English department. She taught as a mathematics teacher for St. Martin School then became a reference librarian for the Elmhurst College Library. Following her time as a reference librarian, she served as Director of Public Services at Rebecca Crown Library, Dominican University. McCook has since been a faculty member and administrator at Louisiana State University, the University of Illinois, Dominican University, and the University of South Florida, where she was Director of the School of Information from 1994 until 2000 and was recognized as a Distinguished University Professor in 2002. As a professor at the University of South Florida, she currently teaches:

• Human Rights & Librarianship,
• Public Library Seminar,
• Libraries as Cultural Heritage Institutions,
• History of Libraries, and
• Wikipedia & Knowledge Management.^[8][9]

She is a member of the editorial board for the journal Progressive Librarian, serves on the Coordinating Committee of the Progressive Librarians Guild, and is a member of AFT Local 7463.^[10] McCook stated in an oral history at the University of South Florida that, as her legacy, she would like to “educate a group of students who are dedicated to preserving civil liberties and making it possible for the people in the community to have access to the information they need for their daily lives, their health, and their happiness.”^[11]

Selected awards and honors

• REFORMA Elizabeth Martinez Lifetime Achievement Award 2016
• Women of Library History—Honoree, Women’s History Month 2014
• REFORMA 40th Anniversary Keynote Speaker, 2011
• Jean E. Coleman Library Outreach Lecturer at the 2010 American Library Association conference
• At Valdosta State she worked on the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, “Librarians Build Communities” (2009-2012).
• Florida Library Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007
• Achievement in Diversity Research Honoree from the ALA Office of Diversity in 2004^[12]
• Chicago Public Library honored McCook as its “Scholar in Residence” where, in 2003, she conducted a series of events on the role of the public library in building communities.
• Beta Phi Mu Award for distinguished service to education for librarianship in 2003
• McCook was the Laura McCusker Memorial Lecturer in 2003 at Dominican University. Her presentation was “Public Libraries and the Public Sphere.”
• 2002 REFORMA Latino Librarian of the Year (Trejo Award)
• Past president of the Association of Library and Information Science Education
• ALA Elizabeth Futas Catalyst for Change Award in 1998
• ALA Margaret E. Monroe Adult Services Award in 1991
• ALA Equality Award in 1987
• Named Outstanding Alumni by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Library and Information Studies where she earned her PhD in 1980^[13]

Selected bibliography

• McCook, Kathleen de la Peña (2011). Introduction to public librarianship (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Neal-Schuman Publishers. ISBN 1555706975. 
• McCook, Kathleen de la Peña (Summer 2007). "Librarians as Advocates for the Human Rights of Immigrants" (PDF). Progressive Librarian (29). Retrieved 9 June 2014. 
• McCook, Kathleen de la Peña; Phenix, Katharine J. (2006). "Public Libraries and Human Rights". Public Library Quarterly. 25 (1/2): 57–73. doi:10.1300/J118v25n0105. 
• McCook, Kathleen de la Peña (Fall 2004). "Public Libraries and People in Jail". Reference & User Services Quarterly. 44 (1): 26–30. 
• McCook, Kathleen de la Peña. "Rocks in the Whirlpool: Equity and the American Library Association". 
• McCook, Kathleen de la Peña (2000). A place at the table : participating in community building. Chicago: American Library Association. ISBN 0838907881. 
• McCook, Kathleen de la Peña, ed. (2000). "Ethnic Diversity in Library and Information Science [special issue]". Library Trends. 49 (1). Retrieved 9 June 2014. 
• Immroth, Barbara; McCook, Kathleen de la Peña (2000). Library services to youth of Hispanic heritage. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 0786407905. 
• McCook, Kathleen de la Peña (1998). Women of color in librarianship : an oral history. [Chicago]: American Library Association. ISBN 0838979939. 

References

External links

• Faculty web page at the University of South Florida