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Dr. Clayton Copeland earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Library and Information Science in 2012 with an emphasis in equity of access and diversity, with interdisciplinary research in library and information science, disability studies, sociology, and psychology. She earned summa cum laude honors while receiving her MLIS and Bachelor of Arts degrees.

Copeland is director of the University of South Carolina iSchool’s Laboratory for Leadership in Equity and Diversity (LLEAD). Much of her research focuses upon equity of access to information for people with disabilities. Copeland also pursues research interests in universal design and Universal Design for learning, literacy, facilities planning, technology, and materials and programming for children and young adults.

Copeland wants students to know that they are important to her, and that their learning is important to her. There is a quote from Dr. Maya Angelou that she has long admired – “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

With every endeavor, she strives to support and encourage students and to have them feel valued. Each and every person has special abilities to share with the world. Teaching is also about learning, and she looks forward to also learning from her students each semester. Each student learns and works differently, and Copeland believes it is important to incorporate Universal Design for Learning, such that we are able to support all students in accessing their abilities.

Copeland won a 2024 Carnegie-Whitney Grant for the project "A Resource Guide for Equitable Access to Information for Blind, Visually Impaired, and Print Disabled Students."