Dr. Kristie Escobar is a researcher and instructor at Florida State University’s College of Communication and Information. Additionally, she teaches at the University of Oklahoma’s School of Library and Information Studies and Old Dominion’s Darden College Department of STEM Education & Professional Studies. Dr. Escobar has also been a military spouse for 25 years and lived all over the United States and around the world, most recently in Wiesbaden, Germany where she has served military children through the Department of Defense Education Activity. Her areas of expertise include the information needs and behaviors of LGBTQAI+ young adults as well as college students on the autism spectrum. Her work on diversity, equity, and inclusion has been previously published in Library and Information Science Research and the Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults. She has presented her research at numerous national conferences and internationally at the Let’s Talk About Sex in YA conferences hosted by the Centre for Research in Children’s Literature at Cambridge University. Dr. Escobar has also served the LGBTQIA+ youth community through participation in the American Library Association’s Rainbow Round Table’s Rainbow Book List and the Stonewall Book Awards. She was the recipient of the 2019 Young Adult Library Services Association’s Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, the 2019 ALISE/University of Washington Information School Youth Services Graduate Student Travel Award, and the Florida State University iSchool Doctoral Researcher of the Year. Dr. Escobar’s degrees include a Doctorate of Philosophy in Information Studies (Florida State University), a Master’s of Library and Information Studies (Florida State University) and a Master’s of Humanities in English Literature (Tiffin University).Escobar CV 2023
Education
Professional Preparation
THE Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, PhD, MLIS, Youth Services Certificate
Research Interests
Information Needs of Young Adults, Older Adults and IT, Information Needs of Student Veterans
Teaching Interests
Information Behavior, Research in LIS, Graphic Novels in Public Libraries, International & Comparative Information Services, Multicultural Resources for Children & Young Adults, Management of Information Organizations
Publications & Research
Escobar, Kristie. (2021). LGBTQAI+ young adult literature as an arcade of ideas: Learning about life, love, and community through reader response theory. Presented at the Children’s Literature Association Annual Conference, June 2021. Virtual.
Escobar, K. L. (2021). “It’s okay to be confused”: LGBTQAI+ teen novels as sexuality and sexual health information resources. Presented at the “Let’s Talk About Sex in YA” conference, May 2021 Cambridge University.
Agosto, D., Abbas, J., Barriage, S., DiGiacomo, D., Greenhalgh, S., Escobar, K., Evans, S., & Subramaniam, M. “What do youth service librarians need? Reassessing goals and curricula in the context of changing information needs and behaviors of youth”. Presented at the American Library and Information Science Educators (ALISE) Annual Conference 2020. Virtual.
Escobar, Kristie (2020). Embracing our differences: A thoughtful conversation about diversity and inclusion in 21s century organizations. Presenting at the Americans Working in Germany (AWAG) Annual Conference 2020, Wiesbaden, Germany.
Escobar, Kristie (2020). “It’s okay to be confused”: LGBTQAI+ teen novels as sexuality and sexual health information resources. The Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults, 11, No.1. http://www.yalsa.ala.org/jrlya/.
Kyungwon Koh, Abigail Phillips, Maria Cahill, Kristie Escobar, Lesley Farmer, Kasey Garrison, Karen Gavigan, Mary Howard, Soohyung Joo and Rachel Magee (2019) “Youth Services in the Global Learning Community”, Presented at the American Library and Information Science Educators (ALISE) Annual Conference 2019, Knoxville, Tennessee
Escobar, K.L. (2019). “A Library is a Place Where You Can Lose You Innocence Without Losing Your Virginity.”: Young Adult Literature, LGBTQAI+ Teens, and Sexual Health Information. (ProQuest Embargoed Publication). Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida.
Escobar, K.L. (2019) “A Library is a Place Where You Can Lose Your Innocence Without Losing Your Virginity.”: Young Adult Literature, LGBTQAI+ Teens, and Sexual Health Information Children’s Literature Association 2019 Annual Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Everhart, N., & Escobar, K. L. (2018). Conceptualizing the information seeking of college students on the autism spectrum through participant viewpoint ethnography. Library & Information Science Research, 40(3-4), 269-276.
Escobar, K. & Everhart, E. (2017) User Experiences in the Academic Library for Students on the Autism Spectrum: An Ethnographic Research Study Using a GoPro Camera. Poster accepted at the Association for Library and Information Educators 2018 (National), 4th Place Florida State University College of Communication and Information, Doctoral Research Award, Fall 2017
Grants & Awards
Florida State University iSchool Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award 2020
Esther Maglathlin Doctoral Research Scholarship 2019
American Library Association Young Adult Library Services Association Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship 2019
Florida State University iSchool Doctoral Researcher of the Year 2019
Florida State University Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award Nominee 2019
Florida State University College of Communication and Information Lewis Marxen Scholarship Recipient 2018
Florida State University College of Communication and Information Doctoral Research Event 4th place 2017
Florida State University College of Communication and Information Lewis Marxen Scholarship Recipient 2017