Kyungwon Koh

• Director, C-U Community Fab Lab

Library and information services for youth, the maker movement in libraries, learning and community engagement, information behavior and literacies, and competencies for information professionals.

• 2022 AASL (American Association of School Librarians) Research Grant for excellence in manuscript, Librarian-teacher co-teaching and the role of school librarians in facilitating inquiry and maker learning. Authors: Dr. Kyungwon Koh, Dr. Xun Ge, and Julia Petrella 
• Winner of the 2016 YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Midwinter Paper Presentation. Competencies Needed to Provide Teen Library Services of the Future: Survey of Professionals in Teen Learning Spaces. Authors: Drs. Kyungwon Koh and June Abbas. 
• Certificate of Merit from ASIS&T (The Association for Information Science and Technology) SIG USE (Special Interest Group: Information Needs Seeking and Use) for outstanding research poster on human information behavior (2014). Project: Implications and Potential Impacts of Information Behavior Research. Authors: Kyungwon Koh, Ellen L. Rubenstein, and Kelvin White
• Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (2010), presented by Beta Phi Mu, the library and information studies honor society.   

Kyungwon Koh is an associate professor and the director of the Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois. She obtained her MSLIS and PhD from Florida State University's iSchool and a BS from Yonsei University's Department of Library and Information Science in South Korea. Her expertise encompasses library and information services for youth, the maker movement in libraries, learning and community engagement, information behavior and literacies, and competencies for information professionals.

Koh has been the recipient of several research grants and awards, including the 2022 AASL (American Association of School Librarians) Research Grant, the 2022/2020/2016 IMLS National Leadership Grants, 2016 ALA YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Midwinter Paper Presentation Winner, 2014 IMLS Laura Bush 21st Century Program Early Career Development Grant, 2010 Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, 2010 ALISE Research Grant Award, and more. Her work has been published in leading IS/LIS journals such as JASIS&T, LISR, Information Research, JRLYA, JELIS, and Library Trends.

• Summer 2025 - Independent Study - IS589KOH
• Fall 2025 - Make-Design-Learn in Libraries - IS582MDO
• Fall 2025 - Independent Study - IS589KOH

By appointment, please contact professor

Koh, K., Ge, X., & Petrella, J. B. (2022). Librarian-teacher co-teaching and the role of school librarians in facilitating inquiry and maker learning. School Library Research, 25. www.ala.org/aasl/slr/volume25/koh-ge-petrella 

Koh, K., Xun, G., Lewis, K., Simmons, S., & Nelson, L. (2020). Fostering Information Literacy through Autonomy and Guidance in the Inquiry and Maker Learning Environments. Proceedings of the 2019 Connected Learning Summit. pp. 94-101. 2019.connectedlearningsummit.org/proceedings

Koh, K., Snead, J. T., & Lu, K. (2019). The processes of maker learning and information behavior in a technology-rich high school class. The Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology. 70(12), 1395-1412. DOI:10.1002/asi.24197

Koh, K., Abbas, J., & Willett, R. Makerspaces in Libraries: Social Roles and Community Engagement (2018). In V. R. Lee & A. L. Phillips (Eds.), Reconceptualizing Libraries: Perspectives from the Information and Learning Sciences. Routledge.

Koh, K., Abbas, J. (2016). Competencies needed to provide teen library services of the future: Survey of professionals in Learning Labs and Makerspaces. Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults. 7(2). Available at http://tinyurl.com/competencies16

Abbas, J., Koh, K. (2015). Future of Library Services Supporting Teen Learning: Perceptions of Professionals in Learning Labs and Makerspaces. Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults. 6. Available at http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/2015/11/future-of-library-and-museum-services-supporting-teen-learning-perceptions-of-professionals-in-learning-labs-and-makerspaces

Koh, K. (2015). Radical Change theory: Framework for empowering digital youth. Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults. 5. Available at http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/2015/01/radical-change-theory-framework-for-empowering-digital-youth

Koh, K. & Abbas, J. (2015). Competencies for Information Professionals in Learning Labs and Makerspaces. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science. 56(2). doi:10.12783/issn.2328-2967/56/2/3. 

Koh, K. (2013). Adolescents’ information-creating behavior embedded in digital media practice using Scratch. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology. 64(9), 1826-1841. doi:10.1002/asi.22878

Koh, K. (2013). Theory-to-research-to-theory strategy: A research-based expansion of radical change theory, Library & Information Science Research. 35(1), 33-40. doi:10.1016/j.lisr.2012.09.003

Koh, K. & Martaus,A. (2019). Design Thinking for Teaching the Foundations of Librarianship. The 2019 ALISE Annual Conference Innovative Pedagogies SIG Session: Exploring Innovative Pedagogies in a Global Information Context.

Koh, K., & Ge, X. (2018). When Inquiry Meets Making: Demystifying Inquiry-Based Making Using Guided Inquiry Design. Connected Learning Summit. 

Koh, K. (2018, May). The Process of Learning by Making and the Role of Information. NSF 2018 STEM for All Video Showcase. Video available at http://videohall.com/p/1265

Lewis, K. R., Dousette-Frederickson, J., Ge, X., Koh, K., Nelson, L., & Simmons, S. (2018, May). Learning in Libraries: Guided Inquiry and Making. Video available at http://videohall.com/p/1128

Moorefield-Lang, H., Abbas, J., Bowler, L., Fontichiaro, K., & Koh, K. (2017, October). Makerspaces in Libraries: Partnerships with Communities. [Keynote presentation]. Library 2.017: Makerspaces (http://www.library20.com/makerspaces)

Koh, K. & Young, T. (2017, May). Youth STEAM Learning by Making in Libraries and Museums. NSF 2017 STEM for All Video Showcase. Research & Design for Impact. Video available at: http://stemforall2017.videohall.com/presentations/1022

Koh, K., Abbas, J., Bowler, L., Moorefield-Lang, H., Willett, R. (2017, January). Makerspaces in Libraries: Creating Change through Active Partnerships with Communities. Panel at the 2017 ALISE Annual Conference.

Koh, K., Abbas, J. (2016, January). Competencies Needed to Provide Teen Library Services of the Future: Survey of Professionals in Teen Learning Spaces. The winner of the 2016 YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) Midwinter Paper Presentation sponsored by YALSA past presidents. The 2016 American Library Association Midwinter Meeting. 

Koh, K. (2016, January). Learning Labs and Makerspaces through the lens of Radical Change Theory. Youth Services SIG Presentation at the 2016 ALISE Annual Conference. 

Koh, K., Oh, K., Agarwal, N., & Belkin, N. (2015, November). Information Seeking and Beyond: Impacts of Studying Different Forms of Information Behavior. Panel at the 2015 ASIS&T Annual Meeting.