CURRENT POSITION Associate Lecturer, Instructor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Clarion University, PA DEGREE MLIS, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2012awards 2019 Wisconsin Library Association Programming Innovation Award AWARDS 2019 Wisconsin Library Association Programming Innovation Award FAST FACT Barbara Alvarez loves road trips with her husband, Nick, and their two rescue dogs, most recently along the Pacific Coast Highway. FOLLOW barbaralvarez.com; linkedin.com/in/barbaraalvarez Photo courtesy of Barbara Alvarez

Health Partner

Barbara Alvarez, while teaching at three iSchools, focuses on building community partnerships for health. To investigate the pandemic’s impact on abortion services for Wisconsin residents, Alvarez conducted weekly mystery calls to 29 abortion clinics in Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, and upper Michigan. “Already restrictive legislation in Wisconsin was only compounded by the pandemic. This limits people’s options and increases barriers,” says Alvarez, who has worked as a research assistant for the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Collaborative for Reproductive Equity.

Alvarez participated on a research team where their findings on information sharing about abortion was published in 2021 in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Currently she’s surveying U.S. librarians about providing sexual and reproductive health information. Alvarez sees opportunities for libraries to offer welcoming spaces and inclusive resources and is working on a book for ALA Editions to publish in 2023. “Equitable access to sexual and reproductive information is critical to human rights,” Alvarez says. 

Before her work in reproductive health, Alvarez partnered with the Milwaukee County Department on Aging to create the Memory Connection Center at the North Shore Library in Glendale, WI—the first of its kind. The center offers a haven and information for people with dementia and their caregivers. “Many said that they felt lonely and confused, but meeting with people who were in similar situations helped them form connections that they needed,” Alvarez says. 

Currently working on a PhD in Information Science at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Alvarez hopes that after completing her doctorate she will find a position teaching the next generation of librarians, saying, “Wherever I end up, I hope that I get to continue to do the work that I love and that makes a difference.”