Lauren Pressley is the Dean of the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest University. In this role she leads the library in engagement with teaching, learning, and research and in its support of students and faculty in the Undergraduate College, the School of Business, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Professional Studies, and the School of Divinity.

Before returning to Wake Forest, Lauren served as the Senior Associate Dean for Research and Learning Services at the University of Washington Libraries, the Director of the University of Washington Tacoma Library, and as Director of Learning Environments for Virginia Tech University Libraries. She began her career at ZSR serving in a number of roles focused on instruction and technology.

A frequent speaker and author, Lauren’s work explores leadership, organizational change, the evolving information environment, and the future of libraries. She has held numerous leadership roles within the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the Library Information Technology Association (LITA), and the Horizon Project. Lauren served as president of ACRL in 2018-2019, at the time representing more than 10,000 members across academic and research libraries.

Her contributions to the field have been recognized with the Bea Kovacs Outstanding Alumni Award from the UNC-Greensboro Library and Information Studies Program, with a Distinguished Alumni Early Career Award from the UNC-Greensboro School of Education, and honors such as a Library Journal Mover and Shaker award and as an ALA Emerging Leader. Lauren has been an UCLA Library Senior Fellows and an Association of Research Libraries Leadership Fellow.

She holds a Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) degree from the University of North Carolina—Greensboro and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Small Group and Interpersonal Communication and in Philosophy from North Carolina State University.