African American Studies

Kathleen E. Bethel

African American Studies Librarian

phone: (847) 491-2173 fax: (847) 491-5678
email: kbethel@northwestern.edu [1] 

Responsible for collection development and reference work in African American Studies [2], that is the study of the experiences of African descended peoples in the Western Hemisphere, I am the primary selector of library materials in the social sciences and humanities. For the most part, materials selected are part of the Main Collection, as well as the Art Collection, and the Music Library of the University Library.

Support research needs across the curriculum, particularly for the Department of African American Studies (AFAM [3]),

I also have liaison responsibilities to the Office of African American Student Affairs (AASA [4]).

See also the Melville J. Herskovits Library [5] of African Studies and a list [6] of librarian selectors by subject.

Campus Activities

• A member the Association of Northwestern University Women (ANUW [7]).
• Library Fellow to the Alice Berline Kaplan Institute [8] for the Humanities, 1999-2000.

Professional Activities

• American Library Association (ALA [9]): the Library Council [10] (ALA's governing body) and the Association of College and Research Libraries' (ACRL [11]) African American Studies Librarians Section (AFAS [12]).
• Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA [13]) and a member of the Chicago Chapter: Black Caucus of the American Library Association (CC:BCALA [14]).
  
• Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Inc. (ASALH [15]): member of the Chicago Branch.
• Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC [16]): Member of the Board.
  
• Project on the History of Black Writing [17], University of Kansas: member of the Advisory Board.
  
• Toni Morrison Society [18]: Bibliographer

Research and Publications

• Library Fellow, Alice B. Kaplan Institute [8] for the Humanities, Northwestern University 1999-2000. Research: "Plenty Good Room [19]: African American Museums at the Millennium"
• The Best of Black Books. (2000 May). The Lantern [20].
• Fulbright Library Fellow to the University of Durban-Westville, South Africa, 1996. [Now the University of KwaZulu-Natal [21]]
  
• "Summer Reading Lists":
  [22]
  • 2004 [23]: Hip Hop Fiction
  • 2003: [24]Traveling Shoes: Black Travel Writings, 1993-2003
  • 2002 [25]: "Bean pie, my Brutha? Bean pie, my Sistuh?": Selected Recent Books and Websites on Blacks, Jews and Muslims
  • 2001 [26]: African American Reparations
  • 2000 [27]: Let's Hear It for the Boys: Recent Books on Black Male Youths
  • Earlier [28] "Summer Reading Lists"

• Annual African American Summer Fiction Lists:
  • 2006 [29] (2006 mini [30] list); 2005 [31]; 2004 [32]; 2003 [33] (2003 Remix [34]); 2002 [35]; 2001 [36]; 2000; 1999 [37]; 1998 [38]

• Other bibliographies:
  • Bling, Bling [39]My Sisters! Selected Resources on Black Women & Personal Finance (2003)
  • W(illiam) E(dward) B(urghardt) DU BOIS [40] (1868-1963), Civil Rights Leader, Educator, and Sociologist: A Bibliography of Works & Scholarship Published in 2003
  • Recent African American Drama [41]: A Bibliography of Published Plays, 1985-1995