As Head of Special Collections, Claudia Covert helps members of the RISD Community connect to objects for inspiration, discovery and learning. Claudia is happy to help individuals and classes explore the Fleet Library’s unique collections. She is in charge of collection development - rare books and artist's books, donor relations, reference, instruction, and the library's exhibitions. She holds an MLIS from the University of Pittsburgh and has continued her study of books and their preservation at the Rare Book School and North Bennet Street School. Prior to coming to RISD, Claudia was Library Director for the Corcoran College and Museum of Art in Washington, DC.

Claudia’s research in RISD’s dazzle camouflage collection has been cited in a number of publications, and she’s served as an expert on dazzle for museum exhibitions and press articles. Other research interests include pop-up and movable books, artists’ books, and miniature books. She is the founder and leads both the Baker + Whitehill Student Artists’ Book Contest and RISD’s Unbound art book fair.