I am a new faculty member interested in reading practices, youth, media, and libraries.

My primary research lies at the intersection of young adults, reading, and public libraries, with an emphasis on reading practices related to comics. I carried out my doctoral studies at The University of Western Ontario’s Faculty of Information & Media Studies in Canada where I recently defended my thesis entitled “Young adults reflect on the experience of reading comics in contemporary society: Overcoming the commonplace and recognizing complexity.” This work explores the reading experiences of young adult readers of comics, privileging their voices, and examines the interplay between identity, culture, and social structures to expose the complexity of a historically denigrated reading experience. I have presented in the New Narratives conference, ICAF, and other library and interdisciplinary conferences. Recently I have contributed to the edited collection Transforming Young Adult Services: A Reader for Our Age (2013) and the conference proceedings for Researching the Reading Experience (Oslo, Norway). As a professional librarian, I worked as a young adult librarian and researcher for the International Center for Children’s and Young Adults’ Books (Spain).