Dr. Debra Carruth
Lecturer
- Ph.D. in Information Studies
Florida State University (2013) - B.S. in Liberal Studies
University of Central Florida (2000)
Teaching Fields: Public Libraries, Community Building, Trauma-Informed Care in Libraries, Youth Programming in Libraries, Children’s Literature, Multicultural Children’s Literature, Young Adult Literature
Debi Carruth is a lecturer and adjunct faculty member for the MLIS department. She has taught at the school since 2017, teaching courses surrounding children's literature, library programming for children and young adults, and adult services as well.
Recent Publications and Presentations:
Goldsmith, Annette Y., Gross, Melissa, & Carruth, Debi. (2012). The cover story: What the book jacket of Adele Minchin’s young adult novel, The Beat Goes On, communicates about HIV/AIDS. The Journal of Research on Libraries and Young Adults, 2. Available at
Gross, Melissa, Carruth, Debi, & Goldsmith, Annette, Y. (2009). How can I tell you this? The developing discourse on HIV/AIDS in young adult novels. New Review of Children’s Literature and Librarianship, 15(01), pp. 67 - 87. DOI:10.1080/13614540903315469
Gross, Melissa, Goldsmith, Annette, Y., & Carruth, Debi. (2008). What do young adult novels say about HIV/AIDS? A second look. Library Quarterly, 78, 397-418.
Gross, Melissa, Goldsmith, Annette. Y., & Carruth, Debi. (2010). HIV/AIDS in young adult novels: An annotated bibliography. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.
Carruth, Debi, Goldsmith, Annette, & Gross, Melissa. (Presented 2009, June). HIV/AIDS in young adult novels: Modeling behavior by the book. Feeling Good: Health Information for Children and Young People Conference. Southport, UK.
Gross, Melissa, Goldsmith, Annette Y., & Carruth, Debi. (Presented 2009, June). Touch is difficult. Touch is the revolution. HIV/AIDS in young adult novels.” The Best of Three. The 36th Annual Children’s Literature Association Conference, Charlotte, NC.
Gross, Melissa, Carruth, Debi, & Goldsmith, Annette. (Presented 2007, October). HIV/AIDS in young adult novels. Library Research Seminar IV, London, Ontario, Canada.
Gross, Melissa, Goldsmith, Annette Y., & Carruth, Debi. (Presented 2007, March). The HIV/AIDS in young adult novels project. Panel presentation of three papers: HIV/AIDS in young adult novels, HIV/AIDS: The cover story, and HIV/AIDS: covering it up. Seventh Biennial Conference on Modern Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature, Nashville, TN.