Biographical Sketch of Kem B. Ellis, NCLA Leadership Institute Co-Facilitator

Kem B. Ellis is the Director of the High Point Public Library. A native High Pointer, Kem attended local public schools and graduated from High Point University in 1975 with a degree in History/Political Science. He then attended UNC-Greensboro, where he earned a Master’s of Library Science degree in 1977. Kem has been employed with the High Point Public Library since 1972, and was named Library Director in 1992.

Kem’s professional associations and activities include membership in the American Library Association, the North Carolina Library Association, and the North Carolina Public Library Director’s Association (NCPLDA), where he served as President for the year 2000. Currently Kem is Chair-elect of the Library and Administrative Management Section of NCLA, and Co-chair of the NCLA Leadership Institute and the NCPLDA Awards Committee.

A believer in community involvement and collaboration, Kem’s community activities include work with the United Way of Greater High Point where he currently serves as Immediate Past Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Communities in Schools where he serves as a volunteer tutor, and Chairman of the Advisory board. He is also a member of the board of the Guilford County Partnership for Children. A Rotarian, Kem is Secretary of the Rotary Club of High Point.

Kem has designed and taught both library and non-profit management classes. He designed and served as the first adjunct instructor of the Business Reference course in the MLS program at UNC-G in the late 1980’s. Currently he is an instructor with the Duke Non-Profit Certificate program where he designed and provides a course on performance system design and management for non-profit organizations.