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Allison Benedetti, who has 16 years of diverse experience working as an academic librarian, has been named associate university librarian for teaching, learning and research, effective April 8. The appointment was made by Athena N. Jackson, the Norman and Armena Powell University Librarian.
Benedetti has held leadership roles at UCLA Library for 11 years, concurrently serving as interim associate university librarian for user engagement and director of Arts, Music and Powell libraries since Sept. 2022. In these roles, she oversaw a combined budget of over $14 million, managed more than 85 librarians and staff and supervised operations across eight locations, including the Southern Regional Library Facility (SRLF).
At UCLA, Benedetti also has been closely involved with major projects and committees to update data and policy procedures, oversee facility renovations, address staff vacancies and devise Library and campus strategic plans.
“Allison brings significant scope and breadth of knowledge to this role and has the additional benefit of being a seasoned leader for UCLA Library for many years,” said Jackson. “I am confident that she will continue to excel, ensuring the Library’s teaching and learning priorities, services and resources keep pace with the needs of faculty, students and other collaborators and by continually seeking ways to advance institutional effectiveness.”
The associate university librarian for teaching, learning and research has leadership, management, strategic policy, facilities and capital projects responsibilities for the Library’s comprehensive public service functions and oversees user engagement and unified access services. User engagement unites public service librarians and staff across three major library divisions and four functional teams; unified access services provides patron registration, shelving and stacks maintenance, building maintenance, security monitoring and interlibrary borrowing and lending.
Benedetti will continue to supervise the operations of SRLF, a branch of the Library established in 1987 on the UCLA campus as an off-site repository and retrieval facility, which currently holds 7 million items from all 10 UC campuses and an imaging services unit.
“My time at UCLA Library has afforded me growth opportunities and the chance to build relationships with some incredible colleagues, while allowing me to contribute to an educational mission I believe in,” said Benedetti. “I feel very fortunate to be stepping into this role near the beginning of the tenure of our new university librarian and to continue my work with our campus partners in teaching, learning and research to support students and instructors.”
Benedetti is a fellow in the inaugural cohort of the Association of Research Libraries Intensive Learning Program, an eight-month library leadership development course, and she serves on the ARL Research and Analytics Committee.
She joined the Library in 2012 as librarian for advanced research and engagement and was appointed director of Arts, Music and Powell libraries in 2017. Prior to joining UCLA, Benedetti held project librarian roles at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard Graduate School of Design and was project director for the Society of Architectural Historians, Chicago. She earned a master’s degree in library information science from Simmons College, Boston, and completed her bachelor’s degree in languages from Georgetown University.
“I’m eager to be part of what’s next and to have the opportunity to advocate for and amplify the work of the many talented colleagues in the Library,” Benedetti said. “The services and collections access we provide are central to public higher education and developing critical thinkers.”