Bio

Dr. Barbara A. Alvarez is an Associate Professor of Practice for the Master of Management in Library and Information Science in the Bovard College at the University of Southern California. Dr. Alvarez’s professional and academic background is rooted in community engagement and community-based research practices. Dr. Alvarez is particularly interested in research and education related to outreach, embedded librarianship, information access, and information democracies.

Dr. Alvarez was named a 2022 Mover & Shaker by Library Journal and a Deborah A. Hobbins Award Winner from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has taught at the graduate level six different universities and has consistently received Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students recognition.

In the LIS field, Dr. Alvarez co-developed one of the first library Memory Connection Centers to prepare families and individuals for the journey of caring for someone with dementia. For this, the library was awarded the Programming Innovation Award by the Wisconsin Library Association. As a Business Liaison Librarian, she designed and delivered continuing educational tools to job seekers, professionals, and business owners. She received the PrivCo Award for Outstanding Business Librarianship and the Morningstar Public Librarian Support Award. Additionally, Dr. Alvarez was an Athena Award nominee for innovation and creativity in the library’s community.

Dr. Alvarez is the author of Embedded Business Librarianship for the Public Librarian and her latest book, The Library’s Guide to Sexual and Reproductive Health Information, both with ALA Editions. Her forthcoming book, Community Engagement for Libraries: Strategies and Approaches (Bloomsbury Libraries Unlimited), is slated for publication in 2027.

Dr. Alvarez received a Master in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has a PhD in Information Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.