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Expanding Opportunities: Spotlight on a Recent Brown Graduate on Working at the Library’s Center for Digital Scholarship
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Angel Benjamin ‘25, who is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English and Visual Arts, talks with Ashley Champagne, Director of the Center for Digital Scholarship (CDS) at the Brown University Library, about her experience working as the Publicity Coordinator for CDS.
Angel Benjamin ’25 Ashley Champagne: Congratulations on graduating! Would you share a little about what your role was in CDS and what you learned in that role?
Angel Benjamin: I was the Publicity Coordinator from fall 2024 to spring 2025 and handled social media and publicity for CDS events. It was great to receive professional experience that blended both of my majors together, which are English and Visual Arts. It was the first time where I had a chance to try something I’d never done before in a professional setting. I didn’t think I had any concrete skill set in publicity to be honest. I learned so much about event photography, social media posts, and writing for events. I loved creating something that had tangible deliverables at the end that made a big impact. I learned so much about the technique that goes into each of these aspects of publicity from taking event photos to creating flyers.
That’s great. You mentioned learning new skill sets (e.g., event photography, writing posts). Can you say more about that?
The biggest thing I learned was how to adapt my writing voice with the branding and voice of CDS and the Library. I learned how to write posts for specific audiences.
What was working at the Library like for you?
My job in the Library was different than I ever expected. The Brown Library does so much work and employs people who can offer so much more than access to physical books. I got to experience and work on community-based projects. It takes people from so many different backgrounds to put together the services and offerings the Brown Library gives the campus. I would encourage more people to get involved in libraries.
It’s great to hear that you had a window into the many aspects of work that staff at the Library do. Was there anything else that you learned?
I learned about collaboration. One project I worked on was preparing flyers and information about a new initiative in CDS: community office hours. These office hours are offered each term by CDS staff and are open to anyone from the community to come and learn about digital scholarship from grant writing to thinking through your ideas to making a great digital humanities project. I was charged with creating the flyers for the community office hours, and I got to speak with Ben Tyler, a designer at the Library, about design ideas. We created an image together using the bear that is often used on Library promotional materials.
Collaboration is so important in so many positions, and certainly at the Brown Library! Do you have any advice for future undergraduates?
Try to find opportunities or make opportunities where you can build yourself up, learn new skills, and develop a portfolio.
Thanks for that. That’s great advice. Is there anything else to share?
I learned about failure as well. It’s common to think that publicity is all about design skills, but there’s a huge planning aspect to the work as well. When do you need to get the publicity out? Who is your audience? These kinds of questions are central to the publicity itself.
It was so satisfying to see people attend the events that I had worked on publicity for. It was great to see people enjoying themselves and asking questions.
Thank you to Ashley Champagne, my supervisor, and the Library team!
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Brown University Digital Publications Wins Silver EPIC Award
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Brown University Digital Publications has won SILVER at the EPIC Awards presented by the Society for Scholarly Publishing in the Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, or Accessibility (DEIA) Initiatives category.
Providence, R.I. [Brown University] Launched this year by the Society for Scholarly Publishing, the EPIC Awards (Excellence in Publishing, Information Technology & Communications) celebrate the remarkable achievements of teams and individuals who are advancing scholarly communication through innovation, creativity, dedication, and collaboration. Selected from over 90 entries, Brown University Library’s born-digital publication program promotes inclusive practices, equitable access, and meaningful representation within scholarly publishing.
This significant industry recognition highlights “Born-Digital Scholarly Publishing: Resources and Roadmaps,” a National Endowment for the Humanities Institute on Advanced Topics in the Digital Humanities designed to support scholars from all career levels and across humanistic disciplines who wish to develop multimodal scholarship but may lack the necessary resources and capacity at their home institutions. The institute addressed equity issues endemic to academic publishing by establishing models for enhanced support for underrepresented voices to enrich and expand scholarly discourse through their contributions. Taking a holistic approach, the institute combined the concentrated delivery of foundational knowledge and practical resources with hands-on, individualized developmental editing workshops. Participants gained familiarity with open source tools and platforms, advanced project management skills, concrete and individualized plans for project advancement, and top-level publishing industry contacts.
Members of the 2022 and 2024 NEH institute cohorts convene at Brown University Library. July 24, 2024. By demystifying and streamlining the digital publication endeavor, “Born-Digital Scholarly Publishing: Resources and Roadmaps” aimed to expedite and broaden the dissemination of knowledge on the local and global levels: Participants left the institute prepared to encourage change at their own institutions by sharing the curriculum with colleagues. Editors were well positioned to continue conversations with authors, facilitating the road to publication so that new ideas and perspectives can reach readers in a timely manner. Both the 2022 and 2024 institutes achieved a majority participation of scholars from historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-serving institutions, and community colleges as well as emeriti faculty and independent scholars.
The institute enabled Brown to continue expanding the reach of its pioneering approach to born-digital scholarly publication beyond its own campus, while also underscoring the University’s larger commitment to equity and diversity. It created an “extended family” of digital scholars for which Brown is a hub, in one instance forging an innovative teaching partnership with Brown faculty. Scholarly press directors and acquisitions editors, making up the majority of the faculty, gained greater understanding of the rapidly growing author interest in multimodal publications and were exposed to a set of outstanding scholars with important projects they might not otherwise have encountered. With the institute’s support, some authors were able to re-engage with projects that might otherwise have withered in the face of heavy teaching and administrative burdens.
Through its dedication to diverse voices, Brown University Digital Publications sets a new standard for excellence, encouraging others in the industry to push boundaries and achieve new heights. The EPIC Awards Celebration and Dinner will be held on May 29, 2025, during the 47th Annual Meeting of the Society for Scholarly Publishing in Baltimore, MD, where finalists will be recognized and winners in each category will be announced. For more information about the awards, please visit SSP’s website.
About Brown University Digital Publications
Brown University Digital Publications — generously launched with support from the Mellon Foundation in 2015 with additional support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services — creates exciting new conditions for the production and sharing of knowledge by advancing scholarly arguments in ways not achievable in a conventional print format, whether through multimedia enhancements or interactive engagement with research materials. Brown partners with leading scholarly presses to bring peer reviewed, open access, multimodal content to global audiences. Widely recognized as accessible, intentional, and inclusive, Brown’s novel, library-based approach to born-digital monograph publishing is helping to set the standards for the future of scholarship in the digital age.
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Library as a Third Space | Commencement Forum 2025
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Library as a Third Space: A Collaboration with Providence High School Librarians and Brown University
Date: Saturday, May 24, 2025
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Willis Reading Room, John Hay Library, 20 Prospect St., Providence
Zoom link to attend online: https://bit.ly/library-forumVideo of the Forum
The Fund for the Education of the Children of Providence
Following Brown’s 2006 Slavery and Justice Report, initiated by President Ruth J. Simmons, the University committed ten million dollars to establish The Fund for the Education of Children of Providence endowment. According to President Simmons:
One of the clearest messages in the Slavery and Justice Report is that institutions of higher education must take a greater interest in the health of their local communities, especially Kindergarten through 12th-grade education. Lack of access to a good education, particularly for urban schoolchildren, is one of the most pervasive and pernicious social problems of our time. Colleges and universities are uniquely able to improve the quality of urban schools. Brown is committed to undertaking that work.
Library Grant
In 2022, the Fund approved a three-year grant to the Brown University Library to partner with Providence Public School District high school librarians to enhance the spaces, collections, and programmatic offerings at all of the Providence public high school libraries.
Commencement Forum
Join us for a Commencement forum to learn about the project’s origins, programming, and future on Saturday, May 24, 2025 at 2:30 p.m. in the Willis Reading Room of the John Hay Library. The panel discussion will feature three of the Providence Public School librarians involved in the project: Alyson Catalan, English Department Teacher Leader at Classical High School; Lenwood Thompson III, Director of Advanced Academics for Providence Public Schools; and Kimberly Yeaw, Library Media Specialist at Providence Career and Technical Academy. Their discussion will be moderated by Kelly Clifton, Head of Library Community Engagement at the Brown University Library and coordinator of the grant.
Free and open to the public. In person and on Zoom.
Registration
Please register to attend on Zoom. (Scroll to the bottom of the calendar entry to register.)
Participants
Alyson Catalan Alyson Catalan
Alyson has been a dedicated educator in the Providence Public School District since beginning her teaching career with Teach For America in 2014. Currently serving as the English Department Teacher Leader at Classical High School, Alyson holds two Master’s Degrees in Special Education and English Language Learning. She is deeply passionate about meeting each student’s needs and empowering them to reach their fullest potential.
Lenwood Thompson III
Lenwood Thompson III Lenwood Thompson III, the Director of Advanced Academics for the Providence Public School District, brings 17 years of experience in education to his leadership role. A native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Mr. Thompson is the proud son of an educator and deeply believes that teaching — whether in the classroom or the library — is one of the most noble professions. His teaching journey has spanned Kindergarten through eighth grade, and he has also served as both an elementary and middle school administrator. This rich experience informs his commitment to supporting high-quality instruction and equitable access to academic opportunities for all students.
In his current role, Mr. Thompson oversees a range of advanced academic courses and initiatives and serves as the district administrator for all school libraries. He provides professional development, programming support, and critical resources to the dedicated librarians of Providence Public Schools. Under his leadership, the district has expanded literacy-focused initiatives, including the introduction of the Battle of the Books — an engaging quiz bowl competition designed to promote reading, collaboration, and creative thinking among students. Mr. Thompson’s vision and advocacy continue to shape a strong academic culture centered around literacy and excellence.
Kimberly Yeaw
Kimberly Yeaw Kim has been an educator for 30 years, a Secondary Mathematics teacher for 14 years, and a School Library Media Specialist at Providence Career and Technical Academy for the last 16 years. As a librarian, Kim is trained as an instructional coach to work with teachers to improve their practice and take on leadership roles as the Technology Support Teacher and the Electives Department Lead. Kim’s highest achievement has been earning the School Librarian of the Year for the State of Rhode Island in the 2023 – 2024 school year.
Kim believes the library is the heart of the school, where students can find a comfortable, safe environment to learn, explore, discover, collaborate, and cultivate relationships.
Kelly Clifton – Moderator
Kelly Clifton Kelly Clifton is the Head of Library Community Engagement at Brown University Library. She is an avid reader, an advocate for access, and a lifelong library patron. She is introducing her two young children to the joy of libraries by exploring libraries in every city they visit.
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. Kelly oversees this work and manages relationships with partners.