Thanks for agreeing to do this, Kelly. Let’s start with the office you lead. Can you please give us an overview? And then we’ll get into some of the details.
Kelly Clifton: Brown University Library received funding from a generous donor to establish the Center for Library Exploration and Research, CLEAR, which houses my office: library community engagement. Though I am an office of one, I work very closely with many colleagues, and I’ll share how our work overlaps throughout our discussion.
The Library’s community engagement programming strives to build connections and cultivate partnerships with colleagues in K-12 schools, public libraries, archives, and Rhode Island-based literacy-adjacent community organizations, supporting their work with students and local communities.
So your mandate is broad. Let’s get into it in more depth. The Brown University News post announcing your appointment three years ago stated that your duties include building and implementing “collaborative and strategic programs and initiatives with Rhode Island local schools, community organizations, public libraries, and the people they serve.” Can you break that down for us?
KC: Sure! My philosophy with community engagement is to introduce myself and ask if folks would be interested in working together, rather than imposing a partnership on them. So, I spent my first few months meeting with our library staff to learn more about their developed partnerships; from there, I met partners who introduced me to more potential partners. Being a Providence local helps because I’m from here. I care about the community because I’m in the community.
My first project was a book drive for Providence Books Through Bars. One of my first meetings was with Cheryl Space from the Community Libraries of Providence; I met Peter Quesnel, a librarian at Juanita Sanchez High School, and Kate Lentz and Amy VanderWeele from RI Center for the Book.
In 2023, the Library was invited to submit a proposal for the Fund for the Children of Providence. The Fund is an endowment established by former Brown President Ruth Simmons to promote academic excellence and success for K-12 students in Providence. With Peter Quesnel’s help, we gathered Providence High School librarians to learn about opportunities to partner and support their work. With input from the librarians, my supervisor, Deputy University Librarian Nora Dimmock, CLEAR Director Niamh McGuigan, and I wrote a three-year grant to support the high school libraries and students:
These partnerships will include “Brown staff, faculty, students, and campus community engagement experts.” Again, a bit more detail, please.
KC: We have a group of instructional librarians and archivists who lead our research and primary source workshops for high school students and teachers. We collaborate interdepartmentally with K-12 programming, whether volunteering during STEM day to support the Chemistry department or tapping into faculty from the Department of Education to lead culturally relevant workshops for staff. Our librarians liaise with departments and faculty members and facilitate those relationships. On the student side, I’ve hired undergraduates to work with me on programming and partnered with departmental undergraduate groups who plan activities and build community within their concentrations to meet with high school students.
I’m a member of the K-12 Community Engagement Committee at Brown, representing different departments throughout the University working with K-12 populations. This includes my colleagues from The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Brown Arts Institute, Brown Pre-College Program, Brown Collegiate Scholars Program, and more. We meet monthly and work strategically to equalize experiences across campus. Our goal is for any K-12 student who participates in Brown programming to know about the opportunities that exist for them at Brown and to relieve some of the burdens for local school partners.
Tell us about some of the community organizations you are working with.
KC: The Library has hosted book drives for Providence Books Through Bars and Books Are Wings. Through our grant-funded project, I have developed a close relationship with Providence Public School District librarians. Because we work so closely together, I consider the high school librarians my colleagues and friends.
I volunteer with the Rhode Island Center for the Book, serving on the programming committee and as an advisory committee member. I’ve fostered relationships with librarians in the state’s Office of Library and Information Services and throughout Rhode Island, which has been exciting because it has given me the opportunity to learn more about what is happening at the state level.
I’m also a Rhode Island Library Association member and a co-chair on the mentor committee. When I first joined RILA, I asked for a mentor within the Providence Public School Department’s library system to better understand the day-to-day responsibilities of its librarians. I was paired with Tasha White, the librarian at Alfred Lima Elementary School, and I spent a day shadowing her. I barely kept up, as she was in constant motion throughout the school, going into classrooms to instruct, teaching in the library space, checking books out to students, and responding to requests from eager readers. We paired for dismissal and helped students find their bus to head home for the day. I don’t think she sat down once while I was there. I’m so pleased that Tasha and I continue to communicate with each other and are working on a Battle of the Books event in April for PPSD elementary and middle schools.
And also, please, some of the public libraries.
KC: Providence is home to the Community Libraries of Providence (CLPVD), which have nine locations in the city and the downtown Providence Public Library (PPL). As I mentioned above, I met with Cheryl Space from CLPVD early on in my role. I continue to work with Cheryl and other amazing folks from CLPVD locations. Currently, I’m in close communication with Judanna Hamidzada, Youth Services Coordinator for CLPVD. I bridge connections between Brown University students and faculty and the community libraries.
Brown University contributed funds to the recent renovation of the Providence Public Library. In my second week of work, I joined President Paxson and other leaders for a tour of the renovations. There’s a great little reading nook in the children’s library which bears Brown’s name.
Brown University Library sponsors the collaborative Summer with Your PVD Libraries program co-led by CLPVD and PPL. Our sponsorship covers the program materials in use over the summer, from the books purchased for each library to the supplies used at each branch. Our staff volunteers to pack bins for distribution and we host events on campus to welcome the public. It’s one of my favorite programs and has been a fun way to involve my daughter in my work.
It’s hardly a secret, of course, that some school and public libraries and librarians have been put in the crosshairs by book-banners and others – even in Rhode Island. We have written about that. What are your thoughts?
KC: Brown and the Library’s mission is to “serve the community, the nation and the world by discovering, communicating and preserving knowledge and understanding in a spirit of free inquiry.” In addition, the Library adheres to the American Library Association’s code of ethics for professional librarianship, which, like our mission, foregrounds equitable access to information and the principles of intellectual freedom (https://www.ala.org/tools/ethics).
My personal feelings are that books are transformative and that everyone should have access to information. Librarians are superheroes who connect with students and patrons and provide safe spaces, but they are underappreciated for the breadth of work they do.
We’ve seen firsthand that providing Spanish-language books has made multilingual students feel seen and included. Last year the Reading Across Rhode Island selection Solito was available in both English and Spanish. I volunteered at the kickoff and our table had both versions of the book available for free. Some attendees were brought to tears to see the text in Spanish. Teachers reported that for some students, it was the first book they read cover to cover.
Many titles on the banned books list share stories of my experiences, and others share stories utterly different from mine. The more we’re siloed and unaware of others’ lived experiences, the more divided we’ll be.
OK, let’s get into your background. We understand you were born and raised in Providence and hold a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rhode Island. Take it from there!
KC: Yes! I was born on the South Side of Providence, and my family relocated to the Washington Park/Edgewood line when I was five. My parents still live in our home, which borders Roger Williams Park.
I attended Providence Public Schools through grade three and The Wheeler School from fourth through twelfth grade. I spent a year and a half at Hofstra University studying public relations before transferring to URI, where I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English. After URI, I worked at RDW Group, an advertising firm in Providence, and then threw caution to the wind and signed a lease on an apartment in Boston before solidifying employment there (much to my parents’ dismay, this will be a trend).
My job application approach was to look for jobs at places where I liked to go, so I applied to the Museum of Science, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the New England Aquarium. I was hired at the Aquarium and worked there for six years. I began as the Group Sales Manager, working with tour companies, school groups, and families to book visits to the Aquarium. While working at the Aquarium, I earned a Master of Science in nonprofit management from Northeastern University.
Over the years, I gained more responsibilities, branched into event sales and management, and had the opportunity to travel while promoting the Aquarium. Following a work trip to San Francisco, I decided to throw caution to the wind again and fulfill a lifelong dream of living in California (where my mother is from and my parents met).
I spent three wonderful but expensive years in San Francisco and then moved back to Rhode Island. I’ll share more about my roles in the next question, but since moving back to RI, I became a dog mom, a homeowner, and a cat mom. I met my husband on a blind date during COVID, only to remember we went to summer camp together, and we have an incredible three-year-old daughter and a seven-month-old son.
You have a passion for non-profits. Tell us about that, please.
KC: My parents are not from RI; they moved here in the 70s and built our community through relationships they developed. They have always instilled in my brother and I the importance of community, supporting neighbors, showing up for others, and giving back however you can.
I didn’t set out for a career in nonprofits, but I’ve found it challenging to work for organizations whose mission and goals I didn’t support. My roles have always been frontline facing, fundraising for organizations and building communities of volunteers and donors.
When I moved to San Francisco, I began volunteering with organizations to learn more about the local landscape. After a volunteer shift at a nutrition-based nonprofit that supported individuals during the height of the AIDS epidemic, providing them with meals with comfort and love, I joined their development team and coordinated fundraising events.
From there, I was invited to join a board, The Academy of Friends, which is Northern California’s largest HIV/AIDS charitable organization. That was my first formal introduction to board service.
Since then, I’ve served on the Girls on the Run Rhode Island board of directors and Community MusicWorks. I’m a member of the Sophia Academy board and the Center for the Book’s advisory board. Board service has allowed me to volunteer, establish connections, and advocate for local youth.
Tell us about the origins of your love for reading.
KC: I am grateful for my parents’ efforts to center reading in our home. As soon as I learned to read, I began devouring books. My favorite books as a child were The Boxcar Children, the Meg Mackintosh: Solve-it-Yourself Mystery books, and The Babysitters Club.
Books have always brought me comfort and camaraderie and taken me to places I could only dream of. I am grateful to have found a bibliophile partner, and we’re raising our children to love books, too.
And what libraries did you frequent as a child and young adult?
William Hall is my childhood library branch, and I mostly used my school library as a young adult.
Stealing from The New York Times Book Review, what volumes would we find on your night table?
KC: Well, my three-year-old has taken over our room. So, my night table has many Paw Patrol books and others from her vast library. I actually created a book registry for our baby shower with TwentyStories, a local bookstore. I wanted to develop a collection of books that represented our mixed-race family so our children could see themselves in the books we would be reading to them.
And another NYT theft: You are organizing a literary dinner party. What three authors, living or dead, would you invite?
KC:
- Maya Angelou
- Octavia Butler
- Ross Gay
Finally, do you have any desire to write a book of your own?
KC: I don’t. I have a few friends who are teachers who have fantastic ideas for children’s books, and I can’t wait to buy their books.
My mother-in-law is a fantastic writer and is working on the story of her mother’s immigration from rural Ireland to Pennsylvania. She recently retraced her mother Eileen’s journey from Ireland to England, where she met her husband who was stationed in England in the Army, and brought her to Pennsylvania, where they raised four children. My mother-in-law was born in England and they still have family in Ireland.
Copyright © 2025 Salve Regina University. Originally published by OceanStateStories.org.
