Amanpreet (Aman) Kaur

Aman is the University of Pennsylvania's inaugural Health Literacy Librarian, based in the Leon Levy Dental Medicine Library. In this role, Aman primarily assists with supporting the information needs of the School of Dental Medicine and its interdisciplinary collaborations.

Through previous work at Penn, Aman has extensive experience in co-creating Community Health Engagement initiatives in collaboration with partners both on and off campus. In 2019, the Center for Public Health (CPH) appointed Aman to the role of Associate Fellow in recognition of this work. Through her collaboration with CPH, Aman received funding from the Office of the Provost and the Wellness at Penn Division to coordinate Weekly Themed Wellness Walks, one of three winning pitches from the Chief Wellness Officer's "Your Big (Wellness) Idea" Challenge. In 2020, Weekly Themed Wellness Walks was renamed Penn Walks 2 Wellness (PW2W). As of 2022, Steve Scaduto coordinates PW2W. Aman also was an advisor for EduCare, a Penn student-led health literacy-focused non-profit organization. In 2023, Aman formally enrolled as a Master of Public Health student at the Perelman School of Medicine.

Aman came to Penn Libraries as the 2015 - 2017 Eugene Garfield Resident in Science Librarianship and served as the inaugural Community Health & Engineering Librarian from 2017 to 2022 at the Holman Biotech Commons (formerly the Biomedical Library). From 2016 through 2021, she coordinated the Inter-Professional Student Advisory Gatherings (#IPSAG), the Penn Libraries' interprofessional networking event series geared towards students interested in health-related careers. During her residency, she received a 2017 Special Libraries Association (SLA) Philadelphia Chapter Appreciation Award for serving as the chapter's first SLAConnect Liaison and its first Community Outreach Committee Chair. She received the 2018 SLA Philadelphia Chapter Liberty Bell Award for continuing to promote a book drive to support school libraries at 20 public elementary and high schools in Philadelphia in partnership with Penn Libraries Community Outreach and the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children.

Aman received professional development funding via the 2018 SLA Student & New Professionals Advisory Council Conference Registration Award, the 2019 Medical Library Association Travel Grant, the 2019 SLA Engineering Division/IEEE Continuing Education Award, and the 2019 & 2020 Medical Library Association/American Public Health Association Sewell Stipend for Public Health Librarians. In 2020, Aman was elected to serve a two-year term on the Executive Board of the Penn Professional Staff Assembly. In 2021, she was appointed to serve on the board of the Pennsylvania Public Health Association and the Steering Committee of the Public Health Young Leaders Association and elected to serve as the 2021 - 2023 Librarians' Assembly Representative to University Council and the Almanac Advisory Committee.

Before coming to Penn, Aman worked in multiple capacities at Rutgers University, where she obtained a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree and currently serves as a lecturer. She earned the 2015 Health Sciences Library Association of New Jersey student award for her outstanding work as the spring semester intern at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Resource & Learning Center. Aman also served in the 2013 - 2014 Literacy AmeriCorps of Palm Beach County, where she developed and managed Adult Literacy Services for the Boynton Beach City Library. She holds a BS in Family & Consumer Sciences Education & Studies with a minor in Engineering Studies from Iowa State and a Certificate in Grant Writing from the County College of Morris. In April 2018, Aman became one of the 2018 Iowa STATEment Makers for Career Achievement, an honor given to young alumni by the Iowa State University Alumni Association.