The Clandestine Reading Room was conceived and developed by the brothers Dolsy Smith and Kant Smith.

Dolsy Smith is a poet, and a librarian at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. A contributor of poetry to literary magazines and art shows, he has also published essays on librarianship and pedagogy. His most recent publication, a collage-essay on libraries and aesthetics, appears online in The Volta. He is currently working on a book-length project about writing, pedagogy, and discourses of privilege.

Kant Smith is a multimedia artist based in Brooklyn, New York. His recent project Lawss of the Land, shown at The Front, in New Orleans, explores masculinity in the context of American gun culture. Smith’s work was featured in Bronx Calling, The Bronx Museum of the Arts 2013 biennial; and the installation Terrorgasm was part of The New Museum's Festival of Ideas for the City. His public sculpture Ghost House is currently on view in Randall’s Island Park in New York City.