About
From January 2019, I joined the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alabama as Professor and EBSCO Endowed Chair in Social Justice. My research focuses on diversity and social justice in library and information science (LIS) and community informatics or the use of information and communication technologies to empower minority and underserved populations to make meaningful changes in their everyday lives. I have applied action research to further engaged scholarship and community engagement while collaborating with racial/ethnic groups, international diaspora, sexual minorities, rural communities, low-income families, small businesses, and others, to represent their experiences and perspectives in the design of community-based information systems and services. From January 2005 – December 2018 I was a faculty member in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Tennessee. I completed my doctoral program in December 2004 from the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (then called the Graduate School of Library and Information Science).
I primarily teach courses on social justice and inclusion advocacy, diversity leadership in information organizations, outreach services to diverse populations, community-engaged scholarship, public library management, collection development, resources and services for adults, and grant development for information professionals.
In the position of the EBSCO Endowed Chair in Social Justice I am very excited to have the opportunity to shape the LIS area of the college-wide doctoral program through a concentration in social justice research. It resonates deeply with my lifelong commitment to further diversity, fairness, and justice working with underserved communities on the margins of society. Further, in this unique progressive collaborative initiative I look forward to playing a leadership role in mobilizing the LIS and communication professions in engaged scholarship to help expand their traditional definition, scope, extent, representation, and relevance in the 21st century. Interested potential applicants please contact me at: bmehra@ua.edu or 205-348-5259.
SUBJECT AREAS
Research: Diversity & Inclusion, Intercultural Communication, Social Justice in Library & Information Science, Critical & Cross-Cultural Studies, Community Engagement, Community Informatics, Rural Libraries, Human Information Behaviors of Underserved Populations, Action Research, Qualitative Methods.
Teaching [see “Teaching” for course websites]:
Social Justice & Inclusion Advocacy, Diversity Leadership in Information Organizations, Community-Engaged Scholarship, Public Library Management & Services, Collection Development & Management, Grant Development for Information Professionals, Resources & Services for Adults [Fiction & Non-Fiction; Reader’s Advisory Services], Information Representation & Organization.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
See “Grants” for current and past grant projects (externally funded and internal grants).
Publications
(1) Williams-Cockfield, K. C., and Mehra, B. (editors). (2023). How Public Libraries Build Sustainable Communities in the 21st Century. (Advances in Librarianship, Volume 53). Bingley, United Kingdom: Emerald Group Publishing. https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/doi/10.1108/S0065-2830202353.
(2) Black, K., and Mehra, B. (eds.). (2023). Antiracist Library and Information Science: Racial Justice and Community [Advances in Librarianship, Vol. 51]. Bingley, United Kingdom: Emerald Group Publishing. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/S0065-283020230000052002/full/html.
(3) Lopez, M. E., Mehra, B., and Caspe, M. (2023). An Exploratory Social Justice Framework to Develop Public Library Services With Underserved Families. Public Library Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/01616846.2023.2187180.
(4) Mehra, B. (2023). (Dis)information, Dysfunctions, and Democracy During the Global Pandemic: Is the Vision of Social Justice a Mirage (for Libraries) in the Neoliberal Age? The Library Quarterly: Information, Community, Policy 93 (1), 110-125. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/722549.
(5) Mehra, B., and Jaber, B. S. (2023). “Don’t Say Gay” in Alabama: A Taxonomic Framework of LGBTQ+ Information Support Services in Public Libraries, An Exploratory Website Content Analysis of Critical Resistance. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology. http://doi.org/10.1002/asi.24768.
(6) Mehra, B. (2022a). Toward an Impact-Driven Framework to Operationalize Social Justice and Implement ICT4D in the Field of Information. Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology. https://doi-org.libdata.lib.ua.edu/10.1002/asi.24693.
(7) Mehra, B. (ed.). (2022b). Social Justice Design and Implementation in Library and Information Science. Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Social-Justice-Design-and-Implementation-in-Library-and-Information-Science/Mehra/p/book/9780367653828.
(8) Lopez, M. Elena, Mehra, B., and Caspe, M. (eds.). (2021). A Librarian’s Guide to Engaging Families in Learning. Santa Barbara, CA: Libraries Unlimited. https://products.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=A6302P.
