Kerrie Burn BSc(Melb), GradDipLib&InfoStuds(Melb), MA(MCD), AFALIA(DCP) Research/Academic, is a library and information professional with 30+ years of experience across academic and theological libraries in Australia. Her work spans leadership, research, digital innovation, and advocacy, particularly in promoting equitable access to knowledge and amplifying underrepresented voices.
Kerrie has been a University Scholar since October 2024. Before this, she was appointed as the inaugural University Librarian in March 2023 and served in this role until September 2024. This followed a decade as Library Manager at Mannix Library, Catholic Theological College in East Melbourne from 2014 to March 2024. There, she also led the development and management of the University’s online Library Hub from its inception in February 2016. Kerrie was Chair of the University’s Library Committee (2014-2021), was a former member of the Library Taskforce and the Gender and Theology Taskforce, and served on the University’s Academic Board and Executive.
Kerrie worked previously in theological libraries in Melbourne (Ridley and Whitley Colleges) and has held library and research support roles in the Australian university sector (Southern Cross University and Australian Catholic University). She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree and a Graduate Diploma in Library and Information Studies from the University of Melbourne. As a leader in the Australian library sector, she was conferred the distinction of Fellow of the Australian Library and Information Association by the ALIA Board in March 2026. She was recognised as a Distinguished Certified Professional (DCP) of ALIA in July 2018, and awarded an Honorary Life Membership of the Australian and New Zealand Theological Library Association (ANZTLA) in November 2024. Kerrie was elected to membership of the Atla (American Theological Library Association) Board of Directors for 2020-2023 in January 2020 and re-elected for a second term in 2023 for 2024-2026. She was previously a member of Atla’s International Theological Librarianship Education Task Force, which produced resources and provided professional development opportunities for theological librarians working in countries with developing economies.
Kerrie completed a Master of Arts by Research in 2007 through the then Melbourne College of Divinity. Her thesis title was The Australian Baptist Heritage Collection: Management of a Geographically Distributed Special Collection. Kerrie was a team member on the Australian Research Council-funded Discovery Project (DP 170100426), A Baroque Archbishop in Colonial Australia: James Alipius Goold, 1812-1886. She has research and publication interests in the areas of theological libraries, collaborative collection development, the management of library special collections, and Wikipedia-based scholarship.
Kerrie is passionate about open knowledge and gender equity. In 2019, she initiated the Australian Women in Religion Wikipedia project and leads Australia’s contribution to the international Women in Religion Project. This project helps to address gender bias on platforms like Wikipedia, where women remain vastly underrepresented both as subjects (~18%) and editors (~10%). This project is part of similar global initiatives to write articles about women. Kerrie was an inaugural winner of a Wikidata Fellowship awarded by Wikimedia Australia in March 2022. She also received a $10,000 Wikimedia Australia Project Partner project grant in 2023 to support the AWR project and enable the University to employ a Wikimedian-in-Residence. From February to June 2025, Kerrie served as Wikimedian-in-Residence at the State Library of Victoria for the project Radical Acts: Including Australian Feminist Activism in the Historical Record.