Ben is the Head Librarian at The Institute for Global Outreach Developments (FTE: 2) in Nashville, TN. He joined ACL this year.
Twitter Handle: @bpreese
Describe yourself using a book title: Far Away from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
What’s the best thing about being a librarian? I enjoy the face-to-face interactions with confused people — the process of listening and asking questions, working with another person to transform their amorphous confusion into a solvable problem.
What are you currently reading? Middlemarch by George Elliot, the collected poems of Wisalaw Zymborska, and Robert Alter’s translation of the Old Testament
Describe ACL in three words: Friendly / Helpful / Knowledgeable
How have you, as an academic librarian, contributed to your campus? I am currently working to develop writing workshops and a writing center to help struggling writers.
I began my career as a librarian. . . last year. The Institute for Global Outreach Developments needed a librarian to help develop their academic library. Because I already had an interest in this area, I was chosen to fulfill this role. I am enrolled to get an information and library science degree through UTK. I’m at the start of the journey really, and I’m excited to see where it all goes.
What do you value about ACL? I have really enjoyed meeting other librarians. I’m new to this whole thing, so it’s been great to find such a repository of wisdom and experience.
How were you introduced to ACL? The academic dean of my school told me about it.