Carli V. Lowe is the University Archivist at San José State University’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. Her work is focused on studying and developing practices that shift collecting strategies, expand archival audiences, and improve the sustainability of archival institutions, with the goal of ensuring that archives are relevant to present needs and prepared for future challenges.
Born and raised in San Francisco, Carli earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy with a minor in Performing Arts and Social Justice from University of San Francisco. She went on to receive a teaching credential through San Francisco State University and worked as an elementary educator for eleven years. Carli’s work in education emphasized the implementation of equity and social justice practices in her own classroom and throughout the school at large. She developed curriculum about identity, ableism, and food justice, mentored teachers in training, and implemented new programming for students, faculty, and staff. These experiences in the classroom taught Carli about the power of information to impact individuals and communities, leading directly to an interest in information science, and an internship at the Freedom Archives that cemented her commitment to using historic documents to amplify marginalized voices.
Carli received her MLIS in May 2019 through the online program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, studying as both an ALA Spectrum Scholar and ARL Kaleidoscope Scholar.