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Katie Klein

Assistant Professor

University of North Texas

Department of Information Science

Email: Katherine.Klein@unt.edu

Professional Positions

    Academic - P-12

  • Research and Teaching & Learning Librarian, Rising Tide Charter Public School. Rising Tide Charter Public School. (2018 - 2021).
  • Library Media Specialist, Lake Region High School. Lake Region High School. (2015 - 2018).
  • High School Librarian, St. Margaret’s School. St. Margaret’s School. (2006 - 2010).

    • Academic - Post-Secondary

  • Course Assistant, University of South Carolina. University of South Carolina. (2022 - 2025).
  • Research Assistant, University of South Carolina. University of South Carolina. (2023 - 2025).
  • Adjunct Instructor, University of South Carolina. University of South Carolina. (2023 - 2024).
  • Research Assistant, University of South Carolina. University of South Carolina. (2021 - 2023).

    • Professional

  • Per Diem Librarian, Walker Memorial Library. Walker Memorial Library. (2012 - 2018).
  • Project Manager and Affiliate Support, ITNAmerica. ITNAmerica. (2012 - 2015).

Licensures and Certifications

  • Integrative and Experiential Learning, University of South Carolina Center for Teaching Excellence. (2024 - Present).
  • Mental Health & Well-being Competency, University of South Carolina Center for Teaching Excellence. (2024 - Present).
  • Entering Mentoring, University of South Carolina Center for Teaching Excellence. (2023 - Present).
  • Fostering Proactive Learning Environments, University of South Carolina Center for Teaching Excellence. (2023 - Present).
  • Teaching Online for Graduate Students, University of South Carolina Center for Teaching Excellence. (2023 - Present).
  • Social and Behavioral Responsible Conduct of Research, CITI Certifications. (2021 - Present).
  • Social and Behavioral Researchers, CITI Certifications. (2024 - 2027).
  • South Carolina Professional Educator Certificate, Library Media Specialist, South Carolina Department of Education. (2021 - 2026).
  • Conflict of Interest, CITI Certifications. (2021 - 2025).

Professional Memberships

  • American Association of School Librarians (AASL). (2021 - Present).
  • Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE). (2021 - Present).
  • International Association for School Librarianship (IASL). (2021 - Present).
  • South Carolina Association of School Librarians (SCASL). (2021 - Present).
  • American Library Association (ALA). (2003 - Present).

Teaching

Teaching Experience

    University of North Texas

  • INFO 5345 - School Library Program Development, 1 course.
  • INFO 5420 - Literature for Youth in School Libraries, 1 course.

Teaching at Other Institutions

  • University of South Carolina, Summer 2025.
  • University of South Carolina, Fall 2024.
  • University of South Carolina, Summer 2024.
  • University of South Carolina, Spring 2024.
  • University of South Carolina, Fall 2023.
  • University of South Carolina, Summer 2023.
  • University of South Carolina, Fall 2022.

Awards and Honors

  • Dissertation Fellowship, University of South Carolina iSchool. (2025).
  • Student Travel Grant, Library Research Seminar. (2024).
  • Graduate Student Travel Award to ALISE Annual Conference, ALISE / University of Washington Information School Youth Services. (2023).
  • Research Grant sponsored by School Library Connection, AASL. (2023).
  • Graduate Student Poster Award, University of South Carolina. (2022).

Research

Published Intellectual Contributions

    Conference Proceeding

  • Church, A., Croft, M., Everhart, N., Farmer, L., Klein, K., Marquardt, L., Oberg, D. (2025). Principals and librarians: Partners for quality education.
  • Freeburg, D., Klein, K. (2024). Customer service, hard work, and normativity: Identity standards encoded into public library routines.
  • Freeburg, D., Klein, K. (2024). Who am I? How public library staff manage conflicting information about the self‐concept.
  • Freeburg, D., Klein, K. (2022). What guides knowledge work in the library? Maps, routines, and workarounds.

    • Journal Article

  • Freeburg, D., Klein, K. (2025). Be who we all want you to be: Navigating identity regulation in the public library.
  • Freeburg, D., Klein, K. (2025). Who am I? How public library staff manage conflicting information about the self-concept.
  • Freeburg, D., Klein, K. (2024). Are library staff autonomous? The influence of routines and the development of workarounds.
  • Klein, K. (2023). “What library?” A survey of charter school leaders about school library services. School Libraries Worldwide.

    • Magazine/Trade Publication

  • Klein, K., Harrison, A., Burgess, R. (2024). Q and A: How to build relationships in nontraditional schools.
  • Klein, K. (2024). What about charter school libraries? Understanding library services in charter schools.

Presentations Given

    Invited Talk

  • Klein, K. (Presenter), iSchools PhD Seminar Series, Information Literacy in U.S. Charter Schools: An Institutional Ethnography, United States of America. (2025).
  • Klein, K. (Presenter), Spiering, J. (Coordinator/Organizer), Byrd-Fort, V. (Coordinator/Organizer), South Carolina Library Association Annual Conference, Book First Aid, United States of America. (2025).
  • Klein, K. (Presenter), SCLA / SCASL / USC Upstate Fall Workshop, Community Collaborations: Partnering with Outside Organizations, United States of America. (2024).
  • Johnson, C. (Presenter), Klein, K. (Presenter), School Librarians Regional Workshop, Makerspaces, United States of America. (2022).
  • Klein, K. (Presenter), School Librarians Regional Workshop, Makerspaces, United States of America. (2022).
  • Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), Massachusetts Library System Annual Meeting, Collaborate for online privacy, United States of America. (2019).

    • Keynote/Plenary Address

  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Colon-Aguirre, M. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), Padilla, E. (Author & Presenter), South Carolina Library Association, How libraries are addressing America’s “knowing” challenges, United States of America. (2022).

    • Lecture

  • Klein, K. (Presenter), SCASL Annual Conference, Book first-aid: Preventative care and basic repair, United States of America. (2024).
  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author), Georgia Libraries Conference, Stories of routine work in the library: Barriers and Workarounds, United States of America. (2023).
  • Klein, K. (Presenter), SCASL Annual Conference, Teaching middle schoolers to review books, United States of America. (2022).

    • Oral Presentation

  • Klein, K. (Presenter), Freeburg, D. (Presenter), South Carolina Library Association Annual Conference, Public library routines research: Implications for school libraries, United States of America. (2025).
  • Freeburg, D. (Presenter), Klein, K. (Presenter), ALA LibLearnX: The Library Learning Experience, Stuck in a routine: When library routines become barriers, United States of America. (2024).
  • Klein, K. (Presenter), AASL National Conference, How safe are your students’ data?: What you need to know to advocate for student data privacy, United States of America. (2023).
  • Klein, K. (Presenter), Farley-Smith, K. (Presenter), SCASL Annual Conference, School librarian-school counselor collaboration: Opportunities for a healthier, happier school, United States of America. (2023).
  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), South Carolina Library Association Annual Conference, Stuck in a routine: The challenges and workarounds of routine work in libraries, United States of America. (2023).
  • Klein, K. (Presenter), IASL 2022 Hybrid Conference and Research Forum, Teaching middle schoolers to review books, United States of America. (2022).
  • Klein, K. (Presenter), AASL National Conference, Middle schoolers make great book reviewers, United States of America. (2021).

    • Panel Presentation

  • Klein, K. (Panelist), Association for Library and Information Science Education Annual Conference, Information Literacy in Charter School Cultures, School Library SIG: Evolving Practice and Elevating Libraries, United States of America. (2025).
  • Farmer, L. (Panelist), Klein, K. (Panelist), Croft, M. (Panelist), Everhardt, N. (Panelist), Church, A. (Panelist), Oberg, D. (Moderator), Marquardt, L. (Moderator), IASL 2024 Virtual Conference and Research Forum, Principals and Librarians: Partners for Quality Education, United States of America. (2024).
  • Galloway, D. (Panelist), Giller, M. (Panelist), Klein, K. (Panelist), Sargent, J. (Panelist), Cox, T. (Moderator), SCASL Annual Conference, Four national award winners break out of the ordinary, United States of America. (2024).

    • Paper

  • Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), 21st International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Using Institutional Ethnography to Explore School Culture and Information Literacy, United States of America. (2025).
  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), 88th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Public Library Workers, IT Identity Threats, and Implications for Artificial Intelligence, United States of America. (2025).
  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), Association for Library and Information Science Education Annual Conference, Professional Identity and Threats to Non-Normative Identities: Grand Challenges for LIS Education, United States of America. (2025).
  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author), 87th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Be Who We Want You to Be: Navigating Identity Regulation in the Public Library, United States of America. (2024).
  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), iConference 2024 Virtual Research Program, Customer service, hard work, and normativity: Identity standards encoded into public library routines, United States of America. (2024).
  • Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Library Research Seminar 8: Telling Library Stories, Using audio diaries to collect stories of library worker identities and routine work, United States of America. (2024).
  • Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), AASL National Conference, AASL research grant presentations: What library? A survey of charter school leaders about school library services, United States of America. (2023).
  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author), Carolinas Communication Association Annual Meeting, Interpersonal communication as a workaround for obstacles in public library work routines, United States of America. (2023).
  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), Association for Library and Information Science Education Annual Conference, “I ain’t read not one bit of it”: The influence of canonical maps on the knowledge work of public library staff, United States of America. (2022).

    • Poster

  • Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), AASL National Conference, Information Literacy in Charter School Culture, United States of America. (2025).
  • Klein, K. (Author), American Library Association Annual Conference, Information literacy in charter school culture: An institutional ethnography, United States of America. (2025).
  • Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), Association for Library and Information Science Education Annual Conference, Information Literacy in Charter Schools: An Institutional Ethnography, United States of America. (2025).
  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), Association for Library and Information Science Education Annual Conference, Navigating the Opinions of the Colonizers on What it Means to Be You: A Pedagogical Framework for Responding to Identity Conflicts, United States of America. (2025).
  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), iConference 2025, Who Does the Computer Think I Am? How Technology Threatens the Identities of Public Library Workers, United States of America. (2025).
  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author), 87th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Who Am I? How Public Library Staff Manage Conflicting Information about the Self-Concept, United States of America. (2024).
  • Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), Discover USC, University of South Carolina, Using audio diaries to uncover identity-based routines in public libraries, United States of America. (2024).
  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), Library Research Seminar 8: Telling Library Stories, The public library routines project: problematizing routine library work, United States of America. (2024).
  • Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), Freeburg, D. (Author), Twentieth Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Using audio diaries to uncover identity-based routines in public libraries, United States of America. (2024).
  • Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), AASL National Conference, Normalized barriers: The structure and performance of school library routines, United States of America. (2023).
  • Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), Association for Library and Information Science Education Annual Conference, “What library?” A survey of charter school leaders about school library services, United States of America. (2023).
  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author), North Carolina Library Association Conference, Shifting the routine: Surfacing bias and discrimination in the routine work of public library staff, United States of America. (2023).
  • Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), Discover USC, University of South Carolina, Charter school library services, United States of America. (2022).

    • Sharing Session

  • Freeburg, D. (Presenter), Klein, K. (Presenter), SCLA Conference, Changing up the routine: Contextual supports for library staff who don’t fit the way we do things around here, United States of America. (2024).
  • Freeburg, D. (Presenter), Colon-Aguirre, M. (Presenter), Klein, K. (Presenter), Padilla, E. (Presenter), South Carolina Library Association, How YOU are (and can) address America’s “knowing” challenges, United States of America. (2022).

    • Symposium

  • Freeburg, D. (Author & Presenter), Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), CIC Research & Creative Scholarship Symposium, University of South Carolina, Are workers autonomous? The influence of routines and the development of workarounds, United States of America. (2023).
  • Klein, K. (Author & Presenter), CIC Research & Creative Scholarship Symposium, University of South Carolina, Charter school libraries pilot study, United States of America. (2023).

Service

Consulting

  • Government, U.S. Department of Education, United States of America. (November 2022 - September 2023).