Gina Schlesselman-Tarango

Gina Schlesselman-Tarango (she/her) is an interdisciplinary librarian and scholar who writes about critical information literacy in academic libraries and the gender and racial dynamics at play in information work more broadly. Her work has appeared in Exploring Equitable and Inclusive Pedagogies: Creating Space for All Learners, Critical Library Pedagogy Handbook, Communications in Information Literacy, College & Research Libraries, and Library Trends. Most notably, she authored the widely cited “The Legacy of Lady Bountiful: White Women in the Library” (2016) and edited Topographies of Whiteness: Mapping Whiteness in Library and Information Science (2017). She is currently exploring the intersections of reproductive health and information work with attention to the invisible labor that occurs around “reproductive failure,” and she is co-editing Information, Power, and Reproductive Health (expected 2025). Gina is a board member for the Network of the National Library of Medicine's Iowa Stakeholder Advisory Group.

Areas of Responsibility

Kistle Science Library, Reference and Instruction

Consulting Areas

Biology; Biological Chemistry; Chemistry; Computer Science; Environmental Studies; Linguistics; Mathematics and Statistics; Neuroscience; Physics; Psychology. 

Selected Publications

Schlesselman-Tarango, G., Moore, A. A., & Rau, R. (Eds.) (Forthcoming). Information, power, and reproductive health. Library Juice Press.

Schlesselman-Tarango, G. (Invited contribution). (Forthcoming). “Whiteness.” In cline, n., & López-McKnight, J. R. (Eds.), Keywords in (critical) library information science/studies. MIT Press.

Schlesselman-Tarango, G., Edgerton, J., Pryor, E., & Valencia, R. (2023). Engaging student workers in scholarly communication: The Des Moines University Library’s Research & Scholarly Communication Peer Associate Program. Communications in Information Literacy 17(2), 510-529. https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2023.17.2.10

Schlesselman-Tarango, G., & Becerra, M. (Invited contribution). (2022). The critical information literacy leadership institute as alternative to the one-shot: Q & A with a faculty partner. College & Research Libraries 84(5), 844-847. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.83.5.844

Schlesselman-Tarango, G., & Tarango, M. (Invited contribution). (2020). What you cannot get over: A photographic essay exploring reproductive failure, affect, and information work. Library Trends 68(3), 390-408. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2020.0008

Schlesselman-Tarango, G. (2019). Reproductive failure and information work: An 
autoethnography. Library Trends 67(3), 436-454. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2019.0005

Schlesselman-Tarango, G. (Ed.) (2017). Topographies of whiteness: Mapping whiteness in library and information science. Library Juice Press.

Schlesselman-Tarango, G. (2017). How cute! Race, gender, and neutrality in libraries. Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research 12(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v12i1.3850

Forbes, C., Schlesselman-Tarango, G., & Keeran, P. (2017). Expanding support for graduate students: Library workshops on research funding opportunities. College & Research Libraries 78(3), 297-313. https://doi.org/10.5860/crl.78.3.297

Schlesselman-Tarango, G. (2016). The legacy of Lady Bountiful: White women in the library. Library Trends 64(4), 667-686. https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.2016.0015