Ben Conyers joined UNE on 1 July from UNSW, where he has been Director of Information Services. Ben has previous experience as Director, Research and Learning from the Auckland University of Technology as well as roles with Federation University and the State Library of Victoria and Swinburne University. Pulse caught up with Ben to ask him five questions.

• What interested you in the role and coming to Armidale?

The interview process itself was probably the biggest factor in wanting to come to UNE and Armidale. I was really impressed with everyone I talked to as part of that process and in their vision for both UNE and the Library. I then started to realise just how many people I knew who had either lived in Armidale or had worked at UNE and every one of them told me how great and friendly the community was. Here now I can see that for myself and have felt incredibly welcomed this past week.

• What experience do you bring to the role and what are your immediate priorities?

I have worked in a number of academic libraries in NSW, Victoria and even “across the ditch” at Auckland University of Technology where I was the Director Learning and Research and most recently I was the Director of Information Services at UNSW. I also worked for eight years at the State Library Victoria where I managed the front of house services in a library that covered an entire city block and had over 2 million visitors each year. All of those roles were fundamentally about supporting the communities they served and my immediate priority at UNE is to understand how the Library can best support the UNE community.

• Libraries, as a repository for books, are seemingly on the decline. What are your views on this?

The State Library Victoria had over 90 kilometres of physical collections. But even that is still only a very small fraction of what libraries can provide today through digital collections. It has been estimated that research output is doubling every nine years so collecting everything is impossible. Whereas once libraries were repositories, today it is far more about giving students and researchers access to information

• How do you envision the Library evolving to meet the needs of our students and faculty in the coming years?

Libraries are about many things. They are community places that support wellbeing and connection just as much as they are about digital and information literacy and access to knowledge. Libraries are constantly evolving so even with a change as profound as generative AI, libraries are still teaching students how to evaluate information – just through different tools like Microsoft Copilot or Chat GPT. A clear focus of the library today is how we can continue to support students and researchers wherever they are, whether studying in Armidale, Western Sydney or online from their home or with whatever tools they are using. 

• What are your favourite things to do when away from the office?

I am loving seeing all of the new wildlife around Armidale as I am a bit of a bird watcher. Have never seen so many parrots as I now see all day long through my office window. I’ve heard there is a koala that visits the campus and can’t wait till I spot it. Looking forward to when my family joins me to exploring all of the national parks (and maybe a few local wineries too 😉)