BIG IDEAS demand reliable information. The University Libraries supports scholarship, research, and learning at UT by acquiring, organizing, preserving, and facilitating access to the world’s knowledge. The wide-ranging expertise of our librarians might surprise you.

This semester we begin a series of profiles of UT Knoxville librarians. Watch for a new profile each week.

As Coordinator of Library Marketing and Communication, Robin Bedenbaugh leads our efforts to publicize the libraries’ services and resources. She is also the librarian for Communication Studies and Public Relations, providing research consultations, information literacy instruction, and collection development in those disciplines.

Robin is the creative genius behind recent library marketing campaigns. Printed collateral with lots of eye-appeal and a nod to the Volunteer spirit — like our READ posters and Information Is Our Game trading cards — entertain while delivering a serious message. Our READ posters, modeled on the American Library Association’s longstanding national campaign, picture campus celebrities reading from a favorite book. After featuring the campus mascot, the iconic Volunteer, and a world-renowned professor, the Libraries held a contest to select a student to star in the next READ poster. More than 100 students dropped by the library to pose for our photographer. Then everyone was invited to “like” their favorite on our Facebook gallery of contestants. The contest drove an unprecedented volume of traffic to our social media.

Robin holds master’s degrees in library and information science and in communication studies and is pursuing her PhD in Communication from Texas A&M University. She is currently finishing a dissertation on changes in scholarly communication and publishing.