Lisa Warwick

Manager of The People's Archive

DC Public Library

Lisa Warwick is the Manager of The People’s Archive at DC Public Library. Warwick has been instrumental in enhancing reference services and access to the archive. In her role as Manager, she oversees a staff of eleven; caring for DC Public Library’s special collections, including the Black Studies; Washingtoniana; DC Punk Archive; Go-Go Archive; and Peabody Room Collections. A small sample of the collections can be seen online in our recently updated online repository, Dig DC. Previously, as a Coordinator, Warwick created (and adjusted) reference workflows in 2020, during the complex move across multiple locations into the newly renovated Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library. She also developed a comprehensive department manual and implemented virtual reference options; including collaborating across the library system to establish a department-wide LibAnswers reference queue.
Earlier in her career, Warwick worked in academic and specialty research libraries, including the University of Maryland and Dumbarton Oaks Research Library, before coming to the DC Public Library in 2013. She holds her M.A. in Information Science from the University of Maryland and a B.A. in Film Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, biking, and reading at home with her cat, Bruce.
Participating Sessions

The People’s Archive: What’s In It, How to Use It

A conversation on the vast public record housed right here in Washington — historical photographs, civic documents, and primary sources anyone can access, often for free — and what it actually takes to turn an archive into a film. Lisa Warwick, the DC Public Library’s People’s Archivist, is joined by Marisa Fox, director of Double Exposure’s Closing Night film, My Underground Mother, and Bonnie Rowan, the archival researcher who helped...