Katina Strauch began life as a librarian in the mid-1970s. In 1980, she started the Charleston Conference: Issues in Book and Serial Acquisition to bring together librarians, publishers, and vendors to discuss issues shared by the three groups. The meeting has continued annually and boasts over 3,000 attendees in person and virtual, as well as an online counterpart several times a year, Charleston in between. In 1998, Katina partnered with Italian booksellers Casalini Libri to begin the Casalini Fiesole Retreats. These take place every year in different countries around the world. Katina has continued as a professional librarian and has won many awards. She has published numerous books and articles on collection development and acquisitions. She has served on the National Museum and Library Services Board and the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Information Board of Visitors. Katina retired as a librarian in 2016. She sold the Charleston Conference and its associated Against the Grain publications imprint to the non-profit publisher Annual Reviews in 2023.

Scholarly communication is the backbone of human progress. Thanks to Katina's foresight, passion and dedication, the Charleston Conference has become an influential platform for building bridges between contributors, including academic librarians, scholars, and publishers. As knowledge expands at unprecedented rates with technological and scientific advancement, Charleston and Katina's legacy will continue to play a critical role in propelling scholarly communication forward through collaboration, integrity, and innovation.