Benjamin E. Powell

Benjamin Edward Powell (August 28, 1905 – March 11, 1981) was an American librarian and president of the American Library Association from 1959 to 1960.

Powell was born in Sunbury, North Carolina to Willis Warren and Beatrice Franklin Powell. He attended Trinity College, graduating in 1926. After graduation, he accepted a position at the Duke University library. He took a leave of absence from 1929 to 1930 to attend the Columbia University School of Library Service to pursue a degree in library science. Powell continued his education from 1934 to 1935 and in 1937 he was appointed head librarian at the University of Missouri. He received his doctorate in library science from the University of Chicago Graduate Library School in 1946.

Powell became university librarian at Duke University in 1946 after Joseph Penn Breedlove's 48-year tenure and served in that role until he retired in 1975. At Duke, he oversaw an expansion of the university library and the integration of the University Archives.

He was also president of the Association of College and Research Libraries (1948–1949). He was acting chairman of the Southeastern Library Association in 1951- 1952, a member of the advisory committee of the Association of Research Libraries from 1950 to 1955, and a member of the executive board of the North Carolina Library Association.

Publications

"The University Libraries, Duke University" (1959) Powell, Benjamin Edward. 1963. "New Depository Library Legislation." ALA Bulletin 57 (January): 36–39.