Book chapter authored by McDowell discusses storytelling and young adult services

Kate McDowell
Kate McDowell, Associate Professor

Associate Professor and Interim Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Kate McDowell has authored a chapter in the book, Transforming Young Adult Services, Second edition, which was recently published by ALA Editions. In the new edition, leaders in the field present a diverse array of topics addressing current issues in teen libraries.

In her chapter, "Hidden in Plain Sight: Storytelling Epistemology and Envisioning Young Adults," McDowell discusses how storytelling can add "rich practical and analytical dimensions" to the way librarians and LIS researchers think about young adults.

"Storytelling constitutes a richer way of knowing than our field has yet embraced, particularly when it comes to the challenge of connecting with young adults in libraries today," McDowell said. "Whether our stories are folktales based on ancient myths or tweets about the apps on our phones, storytelling is a process of communication."

McDowell has been teaching storytelling since 2007, helping graduate professional students explore how their stories can help them succeed. She is also the storytelling consultant to campus-level Advancement at the University of Illinois. Her current research project is on Storytelling at Work, and she is working on a book called Storytelling Thinking for Professionals. McDowell also researches and publishes in the areas of youth services librarianship, children's print culture history, and public libraries as cultural spaces. She holds both an MS and PhD in library and information science from the iSchool at Illinois.

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Knox appointed interim dean

Professor Emily Knox has been appointed to serve as interim dean of the School of Information Sciences, pending approval by the Board of Trustees. Until officially approved, her title will be interim dean designate. The appointment will begin April 1, 2025.

Emily Knox

iSchool instructors ranked as excellent

Fifty-six iSchool instructors were named in the University's List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent for Fall 2024 and Winter 2024-2025. The rankings are released every semester, and results are based on the ratings from the Instructor and Course Evaluation System (ICES) questionnaire forms maintained by Measurement and Evaluation in the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. 

iSchool Building

Ocepek and Sanfilippo co-edit book on misinformation

Assistant Professor Melissa Ocepek and Assistant Professor Madelyn Rose Sanfilippo have co-edited a new book, Governing Misinformation in Everyday Knowledge Commons, which was recently published by Cambridge University Press. An open access edition of the book is available, thanks to support from the Governing Knowledge Commons Research Coordination Network (NSF 2017495). The new book explores the socio-technical realities of misinformation in a variety of online and offline everyday environments. 

Governing Misinformation in Everyday Knowledge Commons book

Faculty receive support for AI-related projects from new pilot program

Associate Professor Yun Huang, Assistant Professor Jiaqi Ma, and Assistant Professor Haohan Wang have received computing resources from the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR), a two-year pilot program led by the National Science Foundation in partnership with other federal agencies and nongovernmental partners. The goal of the pilot is to support AI-related research with particular emphasis on societal challenges. Last month, awardees presented their research at the NAIRR Pilot Annual Meeting.

iSchool participation in iConference 2025

The following iSchool faculty and students will participate in iConference 2025, which will be held virtually from March 11-14 and physically from March 18-22 in Bloomington, Indiana. The theme of this year's conference is "Living in an AI-gorithmic world."