Associate Librarian for Collections

Description

The Bowdoin College Library seeks a creative, collaborative, and experienced leader for the position of Associate Librarian for Collections.  Reporting to the Director of the Library, the Associate Librarian provides overall administration, vision, and strategic direction for the library’s collections and related services and plays a critical role in the mission and work of the library to support and advance teaching, learning, and scholarship.  The ideal candidate for this position will be passionate about library collections, embrace the vital role they play in the academic life of the college, and be energized by the myriad stewardship challenges they present.

As the intellectual heart of the Bowdoin campus and serving as a major research resource in the state of Maine, the College Library is highly valued for its rich and extensive collections, outstanding staff, and vibrant spaces, including Hawthorne-Longfellow Library—the main library building—and three specialized branch libraries for music, art, and science. The Library Annex, located a short distance from campus, provides high-density shelving for 200,000 volumes in a climate-controlled environment designed to support long-term storage of materials.  Bowdoin College Library develops its collections cooperatively and strategically with the libraries of Colby and Bates colleges, with which it shares a combined catalog (CBBcat).  Along with e-resources, physical materials remain an integral component of the library’s collections and, as a founding member of the Maine Shared Collections Cooperative (MSCC), Bowdoin collaborates with over 40 academic and public libraries that, together, have committed to retain more than 1.5 million print books within the state.  World-class special collections and a robust suite of ILL and document delivery services further the library’s mission to support teaching, learning, and the College’s active research environment.  A team of Research Librarians provides specialized reference services, course-related instruction, and individualized consultations through an effective and expanding research and instruction program and works collaboratively with faculty to support the development of new strategies for teaching, learning, and scholarship.  In line with its goals to address the ways in which structural racism has permeated long-standing library practices, the Bowdoin Library is committed to developing diverse and inclusive collections that represent the voices and experiences of BIPOC and other marginalized communities and to applying critical cataloging methodologies to materials description.

This position:

• Oversees the selection, acquisition, description, stewardship, and promotion of the library’s collections, which are developed to support the college curriculum and faculty and student research.
• Manages a team of seven staff devoted to acquisitions, e-resource management, cataloging, and conservation, including four direct reports (the Head of Acquisitions, Head of Cataloging, Course Materials and Library Collections Specialist, and Conservation Technician).
• Coordinates the collection-related responsibilities of six Research Librarians. 
• Negotiates purchase and renewal terms of e-resource subscription packages with vendors and works closely with CBB colleagues to manage the consortial collections program. 
• Leads collection space-planning efforts in all libraries, coordinating closely with Access Services.
• Oversees the library’s acquisitions program for course-related materials and the campus textbook adoption process for faculty.
• Oversees the library’s materials budget in conjunction with the Library Director and provides expertise in collection assessment and analysis, and in project management.
• Responds to the emergence of new disciplinary areas of study and supports new and evolving methods of scholarship and strengthens partnerships with faculty.
• Participates actively in strategic planning and priority-setting as a member of the Library Leadership Team and serves as a member of the Governing Board of the Colby, Bates, Bowdoin Libraries consortium (CBB).

Further details and instructions to apply can be found on our online application: https://careers.bowdoin.edu/postings/8835. First consideration will be given to applications that are received by April 30, 2022.