Kristen J. Owens is an academic librarian and independent curator specializing in Black visual and material culture. Currently serving as the Librarian for African American and Black Diaspora Studies at NYU Libraries, Kristen has spent the last four years expanding her scholarly focus on Black fashion and art histories to include the study of Black bibliography. She approaches the field as an integral, community-oriented practice of establishing a historical record of Black creative production. Kristen holds an MA in Visual Culture: Costume Studies from New York University, an MS in Library and Information Science from Long Island University, and a BA in Fashion Studies from Montclair State University.