Education

MA, Library and Information Science, University of Iowa 
BA, English, University of Iowa

Specializations 

Public Libraries, Community Engagement, Management & Leadership

Biography

Kara has a masters degree in Library & Information science from the University of Iowa. Before joining SLIS, Kara worked at Iowa City Public Library for 21 years, serving on the leadership team. She worked with the leadership team to plan for the 18.5 million expanded library in 2004 and led the team that planned for an initiated ICPL Bookmobile services for the Iowa City community beginning in 2017. Prior to public library service, she was Project Director for the Integrated Area Information Management Systems grant at Hardin Library for the Health Sciences and Director of the Patients’ Library at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. She has taught graduate courses on public libraries, community engagement, management, teams & leadership, and collection stewardship.

Recent Projects and Presentations 

•  Libraries as Resilience Hubs: Assessing Social Impacts and learning from Best Practices. LG-254845-OLS-23. US National Foundation on the Arts & the Humanities, Institute of Museum & Library Services-National Leadership Grants-Libraries. $494,444. Principal Investigators: Iulian Vamanu, Lucie Alice Laurian, Kara Logsden, Jennifer Glanville, Phuong Nguyen, Haifeng Qian, Kang Zhao, Megan Gilster. August 2023-August 2026. 
• Social Workers in Eastern Iowa Public Libraries. Libraries and Community Resilience Feasibility Grant Program – Jumpstarting Tomorrow. University of Iowa Research Development Office. $50,000. Principal Investigators: Megan Gilster, Kara Logsden, and Sarah Witry. 2022-2023. 
• Public Libraries for Disaster Resilience: Assessing Libraries’ Community Impacts in Times of Climate and Socio-Economic Crises. University of Iowa Research Development Office. $150,000. Principal Investigators: Lucie Alice Laurian, Iulian Vamanu, Kara Logsden, Jennifer Glanville, Phuong Nguyen, Haifeng Qian, Kang Zhao. 2021-2022.
• Libraries are Resilience Hubs: Evidence from the Midwest. With Laurian, L., Doyle, E., Vamanu, I., Logsden, K., Glanville, J., Quan, H., Nguyen, P. Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. Chicago: October 2023. 
• “…And Well-Being for All”: Some Implications of an Interdisciplinary Research on Public Libraries and Community Resilience for LIS Education. With Vamanu, I., Logsden, K., Laurian, L. Association for Library and Information Science Educators. Milwaukee: October 2023.