Curator and Director of Benitz Memorial Library

Description

Notice of Vacancy
Position # 121375

CURATOR OF THE HANFORD COLLECTION AND DIRECTOR OF THE MAX E. BENITZ MEMORIAL LIBRARY

DESCRIPTION OF POSITION

Washington State University Tri-Cities (WSU TC) and Washington State University Libraries invite applications for an open-rank, tenure-eligible faculty member to serve jointly as Curator of the Hanford Collection and Director of the Max E. Benitz Memorial Library. This is a full-time, 12-month position located on the WSU Tri-Cities campus.

THE OPPORTUNITY

In the spring of 2015, Washington State University Tri-Cities was named the home for the Department of Energy’s Hanford Collection, an extensive assortment of artifacts, archives, and photographs gathered from the Hanford site since its creation in 1943. This agreement comes just as the National Park Service begins its work of establishing the new Manhattan Project National Park at the three “secret cities” of Hanford Washington, Oakridge Tennessee, and Los Alamos New Mexico.

The successful candidate will manage, secure, and protect the Hanford Collection on behalf of Mission Support Alliance and the Department of Energy; will work in close collaboration with the Director and Assistant Director of the Hanford History Project and the Director of the Hanford Oral History project; will be expected to develop partnerships with the National Park Service as well as other federal and local agencies and community groups; and will serve as the Repository Official and Curator/Conservator for the collection. Curatorial responsibilities include evaluating, collecting, tracking, cleaning, storing, inventorying, preserving, reporting on, and displaying all the current and newly acquired Hanford Collection artifacts.

The Curator will also serve as a tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the WSU library system and as the Director of the Max E. Benitz Memorial Library on the WSU TC campus. The Benitz Library supports the research and scholarship of the students and faculty at the Tri-Cities campus. It combines physical and digital collections, robust document delivery services and user-focused public services to continually build and adapt to WSU TC’s dynamic and growing environment. As part of the WSU Libraries multi-campus system, collaboration and strong partnerships are central to its work.

The Library Director’s primary responsibility will be to advance a vision for the Benitz Library as a hub of 21st-century teaching and learning. In coordination with the WSU Dean of Libraries, The Director will provide strategic leadership, administrative management, and advocacy for the library and its staff. The Director serves the campus as part of the campus academic leadership team, reporting to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (VCAA).

QUALIFICATIONS

Required (Minimum)

• Master’s degree in library information science or graduate degree in relevant discipline.
• Five years of progressively responsible experience in managing or leading special collections or services and operations, including supervisory experience.
• Demonstrated ability to advance diversity.
• Demonstrated ability to articulate vision, set direction, and accomplish initiatives in changing environments.
• Demonstrated knowledge of archives or special collections.
• Demonstrated ability to work well as part of a team, interact with diverse groups of people in a positive and professional manner, and maintain good working relationships.
• Experience in working with curatorial, technical services, conservation, and digital library staff to develop goals for acquiring, processing, and making special collections fully accessible.
• Demonstrated understanding of and receptiveness to the uses of emerging technologies in archival and special collections.
• Evidence of success in fundraising and/or obtaining grants.
• Familiarity with marketing media, principles, and practices, including desktop publishing, printing, and the Web.

Preferred

• Ph.D. in history, communications, public relations, archaeology, anthropology OR some other related field plus seven years of progressively responsible experience in managing or leading special collections or services and operations, including supervisory experience.
• Tenurable at the rank of Librarian IV
• Experience working in a complex organizational, technological and research environment.
• Demonstrated student-centered approach to librarianship.

GENERAL INFORMATION

WSU Tri-Cities is in Richland WA, which along with Kennewick and Pasco makes up the Tri-Cities. The campus draws from a regional population of approximately 250,000 and is located in the heart of Washington wine country. The largest employer in Richland is the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), which participates in many partnerships and collaborations with WSU Tri-Cities. The growing campus has approximately 1,500 students who are served by nearly 80 full-time faculty and 250 adjunct faculty, many of whom are full-time researchers and scientists at PNNL or local science and engineering firms. WSU Tri-Cities is experiencing a time of unprecedented growth and development. Legislative funding, tremendous community leadership and support, collaborations with PNNL, and partnerships with business and community organizations, have resulted in many exciting new and expanded initiatives.

Interested individuals should submit a detailed letter of application addressing the required and preferred qualifications, curriculum vita, and three letters of recommendation. Letters will be automatically requested and obtained from the reference provided through the WSU online application system.

To apply visit wsujobs.com, position number 121375. Open until filled.

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EDUCATOR AND EMPLOYER. Members of ethnic minorities, women, special disabled veterans, veterans of the Vietnam-era, recently separated veterans, and other protected veterans, persons of disability and/or persons age 40 and over are encouraged to apply.
WSU is committed to excellence through diversity and faculty-friendly policy action, including partner accommodation and NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation programs (http://www.advance.wsu.edu/).

WSU employs only U.S. citizens and lawfully authorized non-U.S. citizens. All new employees must show employment eligibility verification as required by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

WSU is committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities, education and employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact Human Resource Services: 509-335-4521(v), Washington State TDD Relay Service: Voice Callers: 1-800-833-6384; TDD Callers: 1-800-833-6388, 509-335-1259(f), or hrs@wsu.edu.