Kathy A. Parsons received her B.A. (1980) in geography from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her M.A. (1981) in library science from the University of Iowa. Following the completion of her college studies, Parsons was employed as a Librarian (1982-1985) at the Missouri University of Science and Technology Wilson Library. She then joined the staff of the Iowa State University Library as Instructor (1985-1989) and was named Assistant Professor (1989-1997) and then Associate Professor (1997-current). As a member of the faculty of the ISU Library, Parsons has served the library in a number of roles including reference librarian, geography bibliographer, and government publications librarian. She is currently Head (2008-current) of the Stacks and Media Department of the ISU Library.