Karla Strand

Karla J. Strand is the Gender and Women’s Studies Librarian for the University of Wisconsin System. Created in 1977, the GWS Librarian’s Office is one of the premier resources for support of gender, women’s, and LGBTQ studies scholarship and librarianship in the country. From a base at UW Madison’s Memorial Library, Dr. Strand provides research and curriculum support, inter-institutional cooperation, information sharing, and advocacy related to the field of women’s and gender studies, LGBT Studies, and to gender-focused scholarship in the traditional disciplines. Dedicated to using information and knowledge to serve women’s development, Dr. Strand maintains office partnerships with organizations including the UW Women’s Studies Consortium, Women’s Knowledge International, 4W, and Wisconsin Public Television, among others. She oversees projects such as Wisconsin Women Making History and Women’s Knowledge Digital Library. Strand holds a bachelor’s in history and women’s studies from Carroll College, a master’s in library and information science from UW-Milwaukee, and a doctorate in information science from the University of Pretoria (South Africa). Her professional, research, and life interests are focused on the roles that libraries, information, and knowledge play in the empowerment of women and girls throughout the world.