McCook has been active in a number of professional organizations within the field of librarianship. She was highly involved in the American Library Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship.[3] She was the recipient of the REFORMA 2016 Elizabeth Martinez Lifetime Achievement Award.[4] She is a past president of the Association for Library and Information Science Education[5] and the recipient of the 2003 Beta Phi Mu Award for "distinguished service in library education."[6]
2004 ALA Office of Diversity, Achievement in Diversity Research Honoree[8]
2003 John Brubaker Award. Outstanding work of literary merit for article, “Social Justice, Personalism and the Practice of Librarianship,” Catholic Library Association for article in Catholic Library World 72 ( Winter, 2001): 80–84.
2003Beta Phi Mu Award for distinguished service to education for librarianship.
1997 President of the Association of Library and Information Science Education[9]
McCook, Kathleen de la Peña (2004). Introduction to Public Librarianship. New York, NY: Neal-Schuman Publishers.; 2nd ed., 2011, ISBN978-1555706975; 3rd ed., with Jenny S. Bossaller, 2018, ISBN978-0838915066[11]
McCook, Kathleen de la Peña (2000). A Place at the Table: Participating in Community Building. Chicago: American Library Association. ISBN0838907881.[12]
McCook, Kathleen de la Peña (1998). Women of Color in Librarianship: An Oral History. Chicago: American Library Association. ISBN0838979939.
McCook, Kathleen de la Peña; Wallace, Danny P., eds. (1990). Adult services: an enduring focus for public libraries. Chicago: American Library Association. ISBN978-0-8389-0540-1.[14][15]
Weibel, Kathleen; McCook, Kathleen de la Peña; Ellsworth, Dianne J., eds. (1979). The role of women in librarianship, 1876 - 1976: the entry, advancement, and struggle for equalization in one profession. A Neal-Schuman professional book. Phoenix: Oryx Press [u.a.] ISBN978-0-912700-01-4.[16][17]