Dr. Kate McDowell leads the nationally-funded Data Storytelling Toolkit for Librarians (DSTL) project, building a DIY toolkit to equip libraries with narrative tools for data-informed advocacy. The DSTL has been used by over 1,000 librarians in over 50 countries so far. As of 2024, she had delivered over a dozen keynotes on her work to nonprofit organizations nationally and internationally and many more informal talks for state and regional organizations. Her book Critical Data Storytelling for Libraries: Crafting Ethical Narratives for Advocacy and Impact is coming out in August 2025 with ALA Editions. Her future research will center on storytelling for research communication.

Please review the Speaking Engagement Guidelines (pdf)
if you are interested in booking a talk for your organization. Please include key details such as event date, location, format, audience size, institution/organization type, and a description of potential impact.

Full CV (pdf)
High-resolution portrait (jpg)

Current and recent talks
(selected recordings available below)
2025
  • Bryant Jackson Endowed Lecture, “Library Data Storytelling and Information Wisdom” Milner Library, Illinois State University, April 15
  • Keynote, “Storytelling Wisdom and Information Research” US Northeast Chapter of ASIS&T, April 1.
  • “Data Storytelling for Libraries,” Voices for Libraries, sponsored by Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA), Washington, D.C., March 5.
  • “Data Storytelling for Libraries,” Chief Officers of State Library Agencies (COSLA) Spring Meeting, Washington, D.C., March 4.
  • “Data Storytelling Toolkit for Libraries: Distilling Library Wisdom,” Michigan Library Association, MLA Connect Advocacy Hour Series, January 16.
  • “Data Storytelling Toolkit for Libraries: Distilling Library Wisdom,” Illinois Library Association, Noon Network Series, January 13.
2024          
  • “Inspire, Advocate, Communicate: Library Data Storytelling,” Research Institute Public Libraries (RIPL), 12 Months to Better Library Data Webinar Series, made possible by funding from the Mellon Foundation, November 20.
  • Keynote, “Data storytelling and the practice of teaching and learning,” Iowa Courses Online (ICON) Annual Conference, all faculty at the University of Iowa. Iowa City, IA, November 1.
  • “Library Data Storytelling: Strategies for Sharing Information with Emotion,” CARLI Counts, Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI), October 9.
  • Keynote, “Library Data Storytelling: Sharing Information with Emotion,” Pennsylvania Library Association, College and Research Division, Harrisburg, PA, October 7.
  • Keynote, “Storytelling as Information Research: From Data Storytelling to Misinformation,” Library Research Seminar VIII at the University of Kentucky School of Information Science, sponsored by the Library Research Roundtable, American Library Association, Lexington, KY, September 16 2024. The Library Research Seminar series is a top research conference in the field of libraries and librarianship.
  • “Library Data Storytelling: Sharing Information with Emotion,” State Library South Australia, division of Public Library and Corporate Services, Government of South Australia, June 20.
  • “Data Storytelling 101.” WebJunction, a division of OCLC, the leading international nonprofit global library cataloging organization. June 18.
  • “Storytelling Strategies for Research Communication.” Taylor & Francis, Events for Researchers series, May 15.
  • “Information and Misinformation: Data Storytelling for Libraries.” Bergen Offentlige Bibliotek (Bergen Public Library), Norway. May 7.
  • “Data Storytelling and the DIKW framework: theory, practitioners, and pedagogy.” Center for Digital Narrative, Bergen, Norway, May 2.
  •  Keynote, “Library Data Storytelling: Information and Emotion.” Strategic Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE), April 19.
  • Keynote, “Library Data Storytelling.” KB/AUL Kontaktbibliotekardag 2024: Synlighed og Partnerskaber (The Royal Danish Library/Aarhus University Library Annual Academic Librarian Conference 2024: Visibility and Partnerships), Århus, Denmark, February 7.
  • Keynote, “Inspire, Advocate, Communicate: Library Data Storytelling” State Data Coordinators, Institute of Museum and Library Services (invitation-only conference), Washington D. C., January 23.
  •  Keynote, “Goals, Motivations, Successes: Library Data Storytelling,” Supporting Transparent & Open Research Engagement & Exchange (STOREE) conference, University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada, January 19.
  • Keynote, “Library Storytelling with Data: Argument, Evidence, and Emotion,” Tampa Bay Library Association, Tampa Bay, FL, September 1.
  •  “Library Storytelling with Data: Argument, Evidence, and Emotion,” Plenary Session, Research Institute for Public Libraries, Madison, WI, July 23-26.
  •  “The Data Storytelling Toolkit for Librarians,” American Library Association Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, June 24.
  •  Keynote, “Library Storytelling with Data: Argument, Evidence, and Emotion,” Alliance for Public Library Impact, Chicago, IL, June 21-22.
  •  “Library Storytelling with Data,” New Directors’ Institute, Consortium of Academic and Research Libraries in Illinois (CARLI), May 24.
  •  “Data Storytelling as Library Advocacy,” Augusta Baker Diversity Lecture Series, University of South Carolina, April 20.
 

Workshops
Workshops have been crafted for nonprofits, businesses, and universities as well as at the University of Illinois for campus-level Advancement, College of ​Media, College of Business, College of Fine and Applied Arts, College of Engineering, and College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, nonprofits across the state including the Prairie Rivers Network, Library UX Chicago, and more.
​
  • “Visualizing Motivations and Goals for Data Storytelling,” iConference 2025, March 20, 2025. 
  • ​“Troubleshooting Data Storytelling for Teaching and Learning,” Iowa Courses Online (ICON) Annual Conference, all faculty at the University of Iowa. Iowa City, IA, November 1, 2024.
  • “When Children Read Freely,” interactive storytelling session for the Free People Read Freely Symposium sponsored by the University of Illinois System and President Timothy Killeen, organized by Director Anne Craig of CARLI, August 20-21, 2024.
  • “Research Methods at the Intersection of VIZ and AH,” The Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T), Webinar, jointly organized by special interest groups SIG-AH and SIG-VIZ, June 27, 2024.​

The initial DSTL workshop from September 2022 was recorded, below. The event saw over 680 registrants.
Storytelling Recordings