Barbara Alvarez has spent her career specializing in community-engaged librarianship and practices. Her achievements include co-developing a library Memory Connection Center to prepare families and individuals for the journey of caring for someone with dementia. For this work, the library received the Programming Innovation Award from the Wisconsin Library Association. Additionally, as a business liaison librarian, Barbara designed and delivered continuing educational tools to job seekers, professionals, and business owners which earned her the PrivCo Award for Outstanding Business Librarianship and the Morningstar Public Librarian Support Award. She is also recognized as one of Library Journal’s Movers & Shakers.
Barbara holds a BA in history and an MS in library and information science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She earned her PhD in information science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she trained in community-engaged research principles and earned distinction as a University Fellow and Deborah A. Hobbins Award recipient. A sample of Barbara’s publications include authoring such books as The Library’s Guide to Sexual and Reproductive Health Information (ALA Editions, 2023) and Community Engagement for Libraries: Strategies and Approaches (Bloomsbury Libraries Unlimited, forthcoming 2027).
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