Librarian (Assistant or Associate), Collections Management Unit Lead

Librarian (Assistant or Associate), Collections Management Unit Lead

Posting Number: req20516
Department: Special Collections
Location: Main Campus, Tucson, AZ USA
Department Website: https://lib.arizona.edu/about/organization
Target Hire Date: 12/2/2024

Position Highlights

This position is designed to meet the information needs of students, faculty, and other users of Special Collections through the development and management of the department’s collections, including acquisition, processing, description, and maintenance. The role also involves providing reference services, providing instruction on primary source literacy, and occasionally curating exhibitions. Key responsibilities include providing leadership and collaborating with department staff to develop long-term strategies for the stewardship of the University of Arizona Libraries’ Special Collections, with a focus on managing physical and digital materials, handling accessioning, and the arrangement and description of archival collections. Additionally, the position works with others to coordinate the hiring, training, supervision, and mentoring of graduate assistants as well as supervising student employees and interns.

As the unit lead, they will provide leadership and oversight of the collections management operations, working collaboratively to set priorities, improve services, and manage workflows. Responsibilities include managing unit operations and supervising seven full-time employees (six staff and one faculty) and overseeing student employees, including graduate assistants. This position reports to the Head of Special Collections and is part of the department’s leadership group. Unit lead responsibilities will account for approximately 15% of the incumbent’s time (1 FTE).

This is a continuing-eligible or continuing status track, academic professional position. Incumbents are members of the general faculty and are entitled to all accompanying rights and privileges granted by the Arizona Board of Regents and the University of Arizona. Retention and promotion are earned through achievement of a record of excellence in position effectiveness, scholarship, and service.

Outstanding UA benefits include health, dental, and vision insurance plans; life insurance and disability programs; paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays; UA/ASU/NAU tuition reduction for the employee and qualified family members; retirement plans; access to UA recreation and cultural activities; and more!
The University of Arizona has been recognized for our innovative work-life programs. For more information about working at the University of Arizona and relocations services, please visit talent.arizona.edu.

Duties & Responsibilities

CHARACTERISTIC DUTIES

• Provides leadership for the Collections Management Unit, guiding collection development based on an understanding of existing strengths, usage trends, scholarly needs, and opportunities. Applies expertise in modern manuscript acquisition, including the curation and preservation of born-digital archives.
• Collaborates with department leadership and unit members to define and advance the unit’s mission, vision, and goals.
• Leads the development of procedures and data collection practices to assess and inform collections management, addressing procedural needs and space impacts.
• Provides training for Special Collections faculty, staff, and student employees on best practices for collections management.
• Oversees and leads activities that promote discovery, including the arrangement, description, and creation of finding aids for both born-digital and paper-based collections.
• Manages the acquisition and ingest activities for paper and born-digital collections, including accessioning, de-accessioning, organization, and physical re-housing and shelving of materials.
• Oversees the preservation of born-digital materials, including accessioning, processing, and content capture, with work in the Digital Preservation Lab.
• Implements disposition recommendations or decisions through legal instruments such as schedules, deeds of gift, purchase contracts, and deposit agreements.
• Supervises and monitors the output quality produced by Library Services Associates and student employees.
• Trains and mentors graduate assistants and interns in archival processing and other projects.
• Establishes and maintains communication with creators and potential donors of records and papers.
• Contributes to Special Collections’ archival education, course-related instruction, and other specialized educational sessions to students, the community, and other primary customers. Develops and prepares appropriate instructional and educational aids.
• Integrates special collections into the broader institutional environment, collaborating successfully within the larger organization and community.
• Responds to reference inquiries on-site and offsite via telephone, mail, and email.
• Occasionally curates and prepares exhibits of Special Collections materials. Assists in related events such as lectures and receptions.
• Promotes the use of collections through presentations and the exploration of new promotional technologies.
• Participates in library-wide activities, including project teams and other groups, to achieve library goals.
• Routinely lifts, carries, and moves materials weighing up to 40 pounds.
• The UA Libraries support the UA’s diversity and inclusiveness strategic initiatives designed to create an inclusive environment for all faculty, staff, and students. The candidate is expected to support diversity and inclusiveness efforts in the department and library-wide.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Possesses foundational knowledge of the history, theory, and practices related to special collections, including rare books, maps, prints, photographs, ephemera, archives, manuscripts, original work, audiovisual media, and digitized and born-digital materials.
• Ability to articulate and advocate for information technology solutions to archival and bibliographic challenges. This includes a thorough knowledge of archival principles and best practices of archival (paper-based and born-digital) and bibliographic description, access, archival technologies, preservation, digital curation, and reference.
• Understanding of intellectual property rights, copyright, rights management, patron and donor privacy, and other legal issues related to primary materials in various formats.
• Comprehends the purpose, construction, and presentation of formal descriptions of special collections materials, such as bibliographies, catalogs, and finding aids.
• Committed to promoting the appreciation and use of special collections materials to diverse audiences, engaging them with the excitement of original materials.
• Familiar with and committed to standards, ethics, guidelines, trends, and best practices established by professional groups such as ACRL’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Section, the Society of American Archivists, and the American Association of Museums.
• Knowledge of relevant archival and bibliographic standards and frameworks (DACS, Records in Contexts, EAD, MARC) and archival processing standards and techniques.
• Relevant project management skills as it relates to space management, collection management, and arrangement and description workflows. Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously; this may include planning, coordinating, and implementing effective programs, complex projects, or service models.
• Knowledge of best practices for the procedures for technical accessioning of materials in electronic formats.
• Skilled in donor relations, including identifying and cultivating donors, negotiating gifts, preparing legal agreements, understanding appraisal sources and tax regulations, and developing long-term stewardship strategies.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Ability to work in a highly collaborative and inclusive environment, one that values and leverages the benefits of diverse perspectives. Demonstrates a positive attitude and embodies of Our Values: Collaboration, Continuous Learning, Diversity, Innovation, and Integrity.

Minimum Qualifications

• ALA-accredited master’s degree in library and information science.
• Experience supervising any of the following: student employees, graduate assistants, staff, faculty, or through other informal leadership roles.
• Evidence of ability to achieve continuing status (equivalent to tenure), including contributing to the information/library professional and to fulfilling the responsibilities of a library faculty member through service and scholarship.

Preferred Qualifications

• At least three years of experience processing collections and preparing finding aids for archival and manuscript collections as well as experience with hiring and training related to archival arrangement and description.
• Experience documenting and implementing procedures and policies.
• Experience in the use and maintenance of collection management systems such as ArchivesSpace.
• Experience providing effective public services (reference and instruction) in a special collections repository to a diverse clientele including faculty, undergraduate, graduate students and members of the public.
• Experience working with technical support, systems, and programming staff in relation to a collection management system.

Rank: To be Determined
Tenure Information: Continuing Track (C/CE)
FLSA: Exempt
Full Time/Part Time: Full Time
Number of Hours Worked per Week: 40
Job FTE: 1.0
Work Calendar: Fiscal
Job Category: Libraries
Benefits Eligible: Yes - Full Benefits
Rate of Pay: $63,000 - $76,000 (including $7,500 stipend for Unit Lead duties)
Compensation Type: salary at 1.0 full-time equivalency (FTE)
Type of criminal background check required: Name-based criminal background check (non-security sensitive)
Number of Vacancies: 1

Target Hire Date: 12/2/2024

Expected End Date: N/A
Contact Information for Candidates: Armando Cruz | armandocruz@arizona.edu
Open Date: 9/9/2024
Open Until Filled: Yes
Documents Needed to Apply: Resume and Cover Letter
Special Instructions to Applicant: This posting will remain open until filled. To ensure your application is considered, please submit your application materials by 11:59 p.m. on the first review date of October 8, 2024.

Diversity Statement

At the University of Arizona, we value our inclusive climate because we know that diversity in experiences and perspectives is vital to advancing innovation, critical thinking, solving complex problems, and creating an inclusive academic community. As an Hispanic-serving institution, we translate these values into action by seeking individuals who have experience working with diverse students, colleagues, and constituencies. Because we seek a workforce with a wide range of perspectives and experiences, we provide equal employment opportunities to applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or genetic information.

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