Faith Benavides
Special Collections Public Services Coordinator
- email: benavifm@jmu.edu
- phone: (540) 568-3612
Building: Burruss HallOffice: 256MSC: 1706
Departments: Academic Engagement Unit, Digital Scholarship and Distinctive Collections Department, Special Collections Team
Pronouns: She / Her / Hers
About me
Faith Benavides is the Public Services Coordinator in Special Collections. She earned a B.A. in English and Creative Writing from James Madison University in 2015, an M.A. in English Literature and Poetry at Southern New Hampshire University in 2019, and her M.L.I.S with a concentration in Academic Libraries at Louisiana State University in 2022.
About Academic Engagement Unit
We welcome people to the Libraries and help facilitate their experience by staffing the Libraries’ buildings and supporting people on their journey of inquiry. We answer and refer questions via Ask the Library, provide instruction sessions and consultations, and leverage our expertise to develop and provide access to scholarly collections, including special collections. Departments include Access & User Services, Digital Scholarship and Distinctive Collections, and Research & Education Services.
About Digital Scholarship and Distinctive Collections Department
We partner across JMU and in the surrounding communities to create, collect, steward, and imaginatively share unique collections in a variety of media types. We leverage the latest technologies and best practices in digital scholarship to support the exploration and understanding of our shared cultural heritage. Our expertise includes rare books, manuscripts, archives, digital archives, primary source instruction, preservation, conservation, digitization, digital pedagogy, and digital and immersive projects. The Digital Scholarship and Distinctive Collections (DSDC) department combines the Digital Projects and Special Collections teams.
About Special Collections Team
We collect, steward, and preserve materials that document the Central Shenandoah Valley as well as the institutional history of James Madison University. Special Collections also serves as the Libraries’ repository for rare and unique materials. The Preservation office within Special Collections provides book and paper conservation for rare and archival collections as well as book repair for the Libraries’ circulating collections.
Our team works to support teaching and scholarship with primary source materials. We also promote primary source literacy within teaching and learning at JMU and in the wider community of researchers.
Special Collections’ materials and services are available to the public.