Karen Grondin is the Licensing Librarian for ASU Library. She has more than 30 years experience working in academic libraries in a variety of positions. She first worked at ASU from 1993 to 2009. In that time, she held a variety of support staff positions in what is now Public Services including as the lead for Course Reserves. She earned her Masters in Information Resources and Library Science from the University of Arizona while working full time at ASU. This enabled her to move into a position as an Instruction and Reference Librarian at ASU which she held for just over one year.
She then spent 10 years in the private sector first managing the library at a small career college, then moving to a position as an Electronic Resources Librarian, and lastly as a User Experience and Accessibility Librarian, which is when she started to develop a deep interest and passion for accessibility. These experiences helped her gain the expertise she needed to return to ASU and take on her current role in 2018.
Karen is an advocate for promoting accessibility. She serves as an ASU Digital Accessibility Liaison; is the incoming convener for the ACRL Universal Accessibility Interest Group; and is active in the Digital Library Federation's Digital Accessibility Working Group (DLF DAWG). Karen completed a Graduate Certificate in Disability Studies through ASU in 2024.
Outside of work, Karen practices Qi Gong, reads incessantly, enjoys crochet, tries to garden, and enjoys watching movies and hanging out with her husband.