Kellee Warren

Kellee E. Warren is Associate Professor and Special Collections Librarian at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), where she also serves as Public Services Manager for the University Library. Her career at UIC has progressed from IDEA Commons Senior Library Specialist (2014-2016) to Instructor and Special Collections Librarian (2016-2018), Assistant Professor (2018-2024), and currently Associate Professor (since August 2024).

Warren earned her Master of Science in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (2015) and a B.A. in English: Media, Rhetoric and Cultural Studies with a minor in Communication from UIC, graduating magna cum laude (2013). She is proficient in both English and French.

Her research focuses on critical pedagogies in library and information science and archival instruction, with particular attention to race, gender, and representation in archives. Warren's scholarship critically examines Black women's experiences both as subjects in archival materials and as professionals in the archival field. She has published extensively on decolonizing archival instruction, diversity in the archival profession, and the intersection of critical race theory with special collections librarianship.

Warren's publications reveal a consistent scholarly trajectory examining power structures within archival practices. Her work spans from early research on Black women in archival science (2016) through critical examinations of archival instruction with colonial collections (2020), to recent analyses of education technology's impact on special collections (2024). Her research consistently centers marginalized voices and challenges traditional archival practices.

• Editorial board member, Libraries: Culture, History and Society (2023-present)
• Member, ACRL/RBMS Instruction and Outreach Committee (2019-present)
• Member, Steering Committee - Archivists and Archives of Color Section (2018-present)
• Recipient of UIC Office of the President grant for Artists Books project (2020-2021)

As an educator, Warren's mission is to 'inspire students and community members to gain a sense of themselves as historical actors.' Through curating, preserving, and teaching with archival materials, she creates contexts for synthesizing historical and contemporary information. She has taught courses such as 'Engaged Hum: Indiv and Society' (HUM 120) and presented at numerous conferences on culturally sustaining pedagogy in library instruction. Warren also serves on the Provost's Graduate Research Award Review Committee at UIC, demonstrating her commitment to supporting student research.