Special Collections Librarian

Description

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARIAN - Faculty status with multi-year contract opportunities

Consistently recognized by Princeton Review as one of the “Best College Libraries,” The College of Wooster Libraries seeks an innovative and user-centered Special Collections Librarian to manage, steward, and curate college archives and special collections. Supporting the mission of the Libraries and the curricular goals of the college, the Special Collections Librarian role is integral in helping us cultivate an environment where a diverse community of learners discover, create, communicate, and preserve knowledge and insight.

SUMMARY

Reporting to the Librarian of the College, the Special Collections Librarian provides expertise and leadership in the management and stewardship of the College of Wooster’s archives and Special Collections. This leadership role is responsible for the day-to-day Special Collection operations, including supervision of student workers, archival processing, reference and research support, collection development, and information and archival literacy instruction for discipline and course specific instruction.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

• Master’s degree from an ALA-accredited program in Library Science, or equivalent, with an emphasis in archival studies
• 3-5 years’ work experience in libraries, archives, special collections, or historical collections
• Experience with archival descriptive standards (like DACS, EAD) as well as library standards like Dublin Core and MPLP strategies
• Experience teaching information and archival literacy
• Supervisory experience
• Schedule flexibility to include possible evenings and weekends for college or Libraries special events 

PREFERRED KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS

• Additional Master’s degree in a related field
• Certified Archivist (ACA)
• 2-3 years’ experience with decision-making for archival or special collections policies, procedures, and management
• Experience with digital collections and archival collection management software
• Experience establishing productive working relationships with students and faculty
• Proven record of clear judgement and decision-making regarding management of archives and special collections. 
• Experience working with undergraduate students and enthusiasm for interpreting the library's resources to others

Preferred qualifications are not required. The Libraries are committed to enabling the colleague recruited for this position to develop those skills. Individuals with an interest in the position who meet the required qualifications are strongly encouraged to apply. 

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Directs planning, implementation, and ongoing operations and maintenance of Special Collections and college archives to provide access for the campus community, alumni, and other researchers.
• Leads all administrative aspects of Special Collections, including budgeting, inventory, and coordinating closed stacks maintenance.
• Responsible for the hiring, supervision, training, scheduling, and evaluation of 5 -10 Special Collections student employees.
• Manages operations of the reading room.
• Develops, arranges, describes, and processes College of Wooster archives collection.
• Collaborates with Collection Management & Discovery Services for the cataloging of rare books and other special collections.
• Coordinates campus and non-campus Special Collections research requests.
• Responds to reference questions and research requests, and works closely with other librarians in providing help to users, including reference consultations for individualized assistance.
• Participates in the library’s instruction program. Provides instruction in Special Collections and assigned collection development areas, along with shared participation in First-Year Seminar instruction.
• Responsible for collection analysis and development in disciplines in the humanities and/or social sciences. (The exact assignment will depend upon the needs of the library and the specific subject expertise of the librarian.) 
• Acts as the curator of Special Collections, curating the collection for displays/exhibits including leading tours and talks about the display to promote user education and campus engagement.
• Member of the Digital Initiatives Team; responsible for the appraisal, selection, and recommendation of materials for digitization.
• Participates in college and library governance via faculty, library, and professional committee work.
• Performs other related duties as may be assigned by the Director of the Library.

ABOUT US

The College of Wooster is an independent college of the liberal arts and sciences with a commitment to excellence in undergraduate education. We enroll a racially, socioeconomically, and culturally diverse student population of approximately 1,960 undergraduate students, of which 6% identify as Latinx; 10%, as Black/African American; 4%, as Asian; 4%, as multiracial; and 60%, as white. Fifteen percent (15%) of our students are studying on international visas. Twenty-five percent (25%) are Pell-eligible and 12% are first-generation college students. We are interested in hiring faculty who can contribute to the intellectual vibrancy of the community through culturally relevant pedagogy, curricular diversity, intercultural fluency, and a commitment to ensuring equitable outcomes for racially and ethnically minoritized and marginalized students.

The College of Wooster Libraries house close to 700,000 book volumes across three facilities: Andrews Library; The Gault Library for Independent Study; and the Timken Science Library. The Special Collections offers rare materials, first editions, archival materials, and unique collections that preserve social and literary history. In support of the College of Wooster's focus on liberal inquiry and its signature program, Senior Independent Study, the Libraries foster development of progressively sophisticated research and scholarly communication skills, cultivation of a rich local academic community, and the creation and sharing of new knowledge with communities worldwide. The buildings are alive with research, mentorship, innovation, and collaboration, and are designed to support the dual mission of supporting advanced individual study by students and broad collaboration by all members of the academic community.

The Libraries advance our mission through dynamic and high-quality collections, technologies, learning environments, and services for our campus community. The College of Wooster is a founding member of the Five Colleges of Ohio, a consortium of selective liberal arts colleges. The shared library system allows the collections of its member libraries to be readily and quickly available to all the colleges’ users. Membership in OhioLINK enables The College of Wooster Libraries to provide access to over 44 million books, 100+ electronic research databases, 33 million electronic journals and 200,000+ e-books, nearly 85,000 images, videos and sounds and over 100,000 theses and dissertations from Ohio students at 36 Ohio institutions.

The Libraries enjoy strong and unwavering support from the College’s students, faculty, administration and board and are recognized as key to the academic mission of the College. The staff and faculty of the Libraries are respected for their commitment to fostering a community of learners and independent thinkers. Librarians have faculty status and are active participants in faculty governance and campus committees.

Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae and a cover letter through https://apply.interfolio.com/164141.The cover letter should include details applicable to the knowledge and skills needed in this role, a teaching and archival instruction philosophy, and a statement explaining how you would contribute to creating accessible user-centered services, programs, and collections for libraries. Please include information about your understanding of these issues, your record of activities to date, and your specific plans and goals for advancing these efforts in the library as well as on campus and in the broader community. Finalists for the Special Collections Librarian position will be required to provide three references and copies of their unofficial graduate transcripts. Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Priority will be given to applications received by March 31, 2025, 11:59 PM EST.