Brenda Linares, MLIS, MBA, AHIP, Medical Library Association President, 2024-2025

Annabelle V. Nuñez; Kate Flewelling; Emily Vardell; Kristine M. Alpi

doi:10.5195/jmla.2026.2449

Authors

Annabelle V. Nuñez Director, Health Sciences Library, University of Arizona Health Sciences Library https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6418-8717
Kate Flewelling, AHIP Director, Library Services, Medical Campus, Boston University https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6335-1586
Emily Vardell, AHIP Associate Professor, School of Library and Information Management, Emporia State University, Emporia, KS https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3037-4789
Kristine M. Alpi, AHIP Associate Dean of Libraries and Information Sciences, Scholarly & Research Technologies, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4521-3523

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/jmla.2026.2449

Keywords:

Biography, MLA President, Latina, Latinx

Abstract

In this profile, Brenda M. Linares, AHIP, Medical Library Association (MLA) president 2024-25 is introduced through a discussion of her contributions and commitment to growing the next generation of Latina library leaders. As the first Latina immigrant MLA president, she partnered with colleagues to build organizational structures to strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion in multiple regional chapters of MLA. In addition to her focus on integrating her family into her professional engagements, Linares brought a strong business orientation from her bachelor’s degree in Finance and her Master of Business Administration to her MLA leadership and to her professional role as Associate Dean of Library Services, University of Missouri- Kansas City (UKMC) Libraries.

References

1. Linares, B., Moore, M., Burrows, S., Garcia-Barcena, Y. Fusion of Librarians and DOCS for Health. Poster presentation at the Medical Library Association Conference, May 2009, Honolulu, HI.

2. Franco, N. & Linares, B. (2024). Latinx Communities and Health Literacy during COVID-19. In E. Vardell & D. H. Charbonneau (Eds.)., Health literacy and libraries (pp. 13-26). Rowman & Littlefield.

3. Linares, B., Ramirez, M. (2023) JUNTOS Radio: a podcast created in collaboration with Spanish-speaking healthcare providers, Juntos Center for Advancing Latino Health, and a medical librarian. Journal of Medical Library Association, 111;(4), 831-832.

4. Lauseng DL, Alpi KM, Linares BM, Sullo E, von Isenburg M. Library involvement in health informatics education for health professions students and practitioners: a scoping review. J Med Libr Assoc. 2021;109(3):365-375. doi: 10.5195/jmla.2021.1081.

5. Pionke, JJ., Chambers, T., Hernandez, M., Linares, B., Murphy, B., Bartley, K., Pieczko, BT., Giustini, D. (2024) Diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the Medical Library Association: a look back at the last twenty-five years. Journal of Medical Library Association, 112 (3) 180-185.

6. Linares, B, & Belleh, E. Creating a Successful Task Group on Diversity. pp. 167-175. In Murphy, Beverly, and Jones Shannon D.. Diversity and Inclusion in Libraries: a Call to Action and Strategies for Success, 2019.

7. Shawcross M, Linares B, Vardell E, Brady J, Jiang Y. Inclusive survey design: MCMLA's lessons learned from an inclusivity and climate assessment. J Med Libr Assoc. 2025 Oct 23;113(4):378-382. doi: 10.5195/jmla.2025.2159.

8. Weeks, A. Justice, AV, Nugent, R., Rodriguez, B, Linares, B. (2021) Presente: Affirming Latinx voices within health sciences library scholarship. Journal of Medical Library Association 109; (4); 696-696).

9. Vardell, E., & Linares, B. Infertility support groups In-person and Online: Beacons that light the path to Parenthood. (2025) In G. Schlesselman-Tarango, RA Rau and A Aiko Moore (Eds.), Information, Power, and Reproductive Health (pp 195-208). Library Juice Press.

Brenda Linares, MLIS, MBA, AHIP, Medical Library Association President, 2024-2025

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