Mara Thacker

Mara Thacker is the South Asian Studies Librarian and Global Popular Culture Librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University Library, where she holds the faculty rank of Associate Professor. Based in the International and Area Studies Library, she serves as the primary liaison for Hinduism, Indic languages, and South Asian Studies.

Education & Expertise:
While specific degrees are not detailed in the provided text, her portfolio demonstrates deep subject expertise in South Asian cultures, Indic languages, and global popular culture—particularly graphic novels and comics.

Research & Professional Interests:
Her scholarship focuses on three interlocking domains:

• Sustainable collection development for South Asian and comics materials in academic libraries.
• Collaborative and community-oriented strategies for acquiring, preserving, and promoting area-studies collections.
• User engagement and evidence-based decision-making for liaison librarians.

Across these areas, she explores how participatory methods—such as crowdfunding, ethnographic fieldwork at events like Comic Con India, and cooperative collection initiatives—can extend the reach and impact of specialized library holdings.

Publication & Scholarly Trends:
From 2012 to 2024 she has authored or co-authored over twenty peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, with a marked uptick after 2015. The works cluster around (1) empirical studies of collection use and impact, (2) methodological pieces on collaborative fieldwork and engagement, and (3) case studies on comics and popular-culture collecting in academic contexts.

Scientific Awards & Honors:
No awards or fellowships are mentioned in the supplied text.

Advising & Grants:
The text does not list specific PhD or master’s students, nor does it detail particular grant-funded projects. However, her publications frequently document collaborations with faculty and students, suggesting ongoing instructional and research partnerships.

Labs, Teams & Initiatives:
She works within the International and Area Studies Library team and frequently partners with the University Library’s Collection Development unit and subject specialist colleagues to pilot new models of cooperative collection building.