Kathleen de la Peña McCook is a library scholar, librarian, and activist.
Much of her work centers around social justice, human rights, First Amendment issues, and the freedom of information.McCook has been active in a number of professional organizations within the field of librarianship.
She was highly involved in the American Library Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship.
She is a lifelong member of REFORMA, served on the organization's 1997-1998 board of directors, and was the recipient of their 2016 Elizabeth Martinez Lifetime Achievement Award.
She is a past president of the Association for Library and Information Science Education and the recipient of the 2003 Beta Phi Mu Award for "distinguished service in library education".According to a Library Quarterly study, McCook was among the top 20 American library and information science (LIS) researchers.
Her textbook, Introduction to Public Librarianship, is frequently used in LIS courses.McCook has taught full-time since 1978.
She has served on the faculties of Dominican University, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Louisiana State University.
Currently, she is serving as a Distinguished University Professor at the University of South Florida's School of Information.
She also served as 2003 scholar-in-residence for the Chicago Public Library.