Clara Chu

Clara M. Chu, a Peruvian-born Chinese Canadian living in the United States, describes herself as a researcher of multicultural library and information services, information seeking behavior, and critical information studies. Chu is currently employed as a professor and chair in the department of Library and Information Studies at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Chu earned her MLS and PhD from the Library and Information Science program at the University of Western Ontario.
In addition to advancing multiculturalism in librarianship, Chu also researches in the areas of multicultural education, organization of information, international and comparative information services, and transitional ethnic studies. During her time as an associate professor at UCLA, Chu served as a co-chair on the Diversity Recruitment and Mentoring Committee, with the goal of increasing "the number of culturally diverse students eventually graduating from the Information Studies program at UCLA with an MLIS degree." She also served as the principal investigator for PRAXIS (Practice, Reflection, Advocacy, excellence, Inquiry, Solutions), a program funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services to recruit librarians from diverse backgrounds and to prepare them to pursue doctoral studies.
Honors and grants
*2008 Achievement in Diversity Honoree, Achievement in Library Diversity Research, American Library Association.
*2008 Department of Information Studies Teaching Award, UCLA.
*"Dislocations of Multicultural Librarianship: A Critical Examination for a Liberatory Practice," Jean E. Coleman Lecturer, ALA Annual Conference, 30th June 2008.
*"Movers & Shakers 2005: The People Who are Shaping the Future of Libraries," Library Journal, March 15, 2005.
*American Library Association Equality Award, 2002.
Selected publications
*Chu, C. M. (2009). Working from within: Critical service learning as core learning in the MLIS curriculum. In L. Roy, K. Jensen, & A. H. Meyers (Eds.), Service Learning : Linking Library Education and Practice (pp. 105-123). Chicago: American Library Association.
*Chu, C. M. and Hernandez-Carrion, J. R. (2006). “Harnessing ICT to develop community and identity: a model for academic departments.” International Journal of Web Based Communities. 2(1), 70-80.
*Chu, C. M. (2005). “Web-based communities scholarship: from silence to dialogue.” International Journal of Web Based Communities, 1(4), 423-435.
*Chu, C. M. (1999). “Immigrant children mediators (ICM): bridging the literacy gap in immigrant communities.” New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship, 5, 85-94.
*Chu, C. M. (1999). “Literacy practices of linguistic minorities: sociolinguistic issues and implications for literacy services.” Library Quarterly, 69(3), 339-359.

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