Sara Benson, Copyright Librarian and Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Library, has been selected by The American Library Association (ALA) to participate in the 2020 ALA Policy Corps. The ALA Policy Corps aims to develop a cadre of experts with deep and sustained knowledge of national public policies in areas crucial to ALA’s strategic goals.

The Corps’ goals include developing policy experts available to the library community and ALA, creating longevity in expertise and engagement in early to mid-career library and information professionals, and positively impacting national public policy priorities. Launched by ALA Past President Jim Neal in October 2017, the Corps is designed to address the national imperative for libraries.

A lawyer with ten years of experience teaching at the law school level at the University of Illinois College of Law, and currently a librarian at the University Library, Benson is particularly adept at bringing great value to the Policy Corps. Benson’s research focus has been on the socio-political implications of copyright in the U.S. and abroad. By analyzing such implications, Benson hopes to shape the future of copyright policy.

Benson, along with seven other library and information professionals, is a part of the third cohort of Policy Corps members who will be advocating strongly for libraries following ALA’s public policy agenda on local, state and national levels. Benson looks forward to serving with the third cohort and is “excited to work with the ALA to advocate for copyright policies that continue to recognize the unique role libraries play in the legal landscape by providing the public with access to materials.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting work and travel, Corps members will begin their orientation and training via virtual sessions in April.