The University of Lynchburg, a private regional university, located in the beautiful foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Central Virginia is seeking a full-time archives and special collections librarian to join our library team.
The archives and special collections librarian reports to, is supervised by, and evaluated by the director of the library. The evaluation of work performance will be ongoing and will be carried out by the director of the library. It will include the specific duties and responsibilities of this position description plus employee attitude and general working behavior.
Job type:
- Full-time, benefits eligible
Job purpose:
- Manage the University Archives in digital and physical formats and facilitate scholarly access to and ensure long-term preservation of special collections through digital initiatives and engagement.
Specific job duties:
- Archives: Manage University archives in digital and physical formats from acquisition to access, relative to best practices in preservation and digital holdings.
- Access and preservation: Facilitate scholarly access to collections through digitization, the creation and maintenance of descriptions, finding aids, and catalog records across library platforms. Ensure long-term preservation of special collections.
- Digitization: Assess and coordinate digitization priorities in accordance with the needs of the library, the campus, and available staffing.
- Outreach: Engage with campus organizations and stakeholders in order to mold the archival collections and document the history of the University.
Other primary responsibilities:
- Liaison and library support services: Provide library support and assistance to university employees in the areas of liaison responsibilities.
- Supervise one or more student employees
Shared responsibilities:
- Reference and information services: Provide students, faculty, and other library users with reference and information services at the reference desk or in other locations, on an appointment basis, or via chat, Google Meet, phone, or email.
- Collection development: Select and deselect materials in the areas of liaison responsibilities.
- Instruction: Provide instruction to students and faculty in the use of library and other information resources in multiple modalities, both synchronous and asynchronous, in the areas of liaison responsibilities and cross-disciplinary areas, with a special focus on archives and special collections.
- Service: Engage with the faculty through regular attendance of faculty meetings and occasional service on elected or appointed committees.
- Scholarship: Participate in professional activities such as conference attendance, service, presentations, and/or publications.
Benefits:
- Generous paid vacation, personal days, and paid sick time and family leave, comprehensive insurance (medical, dental, vision, etc.) and retirement plans, flexible spending account, tuition remission, life and long term disability insurance, and more. Learn more about employment benefits at the University of Lynchburg.
Schedule:
- 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. (7.5 hours/day with some evening and weekends to meet needs of department may be required)
Experience/skills:
- Ability to communicate effectively and have the ability to understand, comprehend and follow directions
- Must have good teamwork skills
Physical demands:
- Some climbing of stairs and regular handling of heavy or cumbersome material such as collection boxes and book trucks. Half the time is spent sitting and the rest equally divided between standing and walking. Tasks such as working at a computer keyboard involve extensive wrist and hand movements. Some evening and weekend hours are occasionally required, as well as extensive contact with the public.
Oral or written requirements:
- Excellent English language oral skills for effective communication and in teaching the use of resources, excellent English language written skills for effective communication in designing and typing memos, indexes, bibliographies, and hand-outs.
Required qualifications:
- Experience or academic coursework in major areas of responsibility
- Experience with library instruction and knowledge of related pedagogies — particularly instruction with primary sources
- Familiarity with archival practices, description, and relevant metadata schemas such as EAD, Dublin Core, XML, etc.
- Willingness to learn and seek opportunities to improve knowledge and performance in job related areas.
- Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of work life.
Preferred qualifications:
- Working knowledge of a digital repository
- Experience in archival collection management
- Demonstrated knowledge of best practices for digitization of materials in a variety of formats.
Education:
- Master’s degree in library science, archival studies, or equivalent degree program accredited by the American Library Association.
Work remotely:
- No
We seek candidates who are committed to the University of Lynchburg’s efforts to create an environment that fosters a student-centered environment, develops the breadth of knowledge associated with liberal education, respects and supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, values and celebrates diverse faith traditions, and sustains close working relationships among faculty, staff, students, alumni, and community partners.
How to Apply
Submit an employment application and email or mail a résumé and contact information of three professional references, to:
University of Lynchburg
Office of Human Resources
1501 Lakeside Drive
Lynchburg, VA 24501
The selected candidate must successfully pass a background check that is satisfactory to the University.
The University of Lynchburg is committed to diversity within its community and welcomes applications from persons of color, women, Indigenous/aboriginal people of North America, persons with disabilities, the LGBTQIA+ community, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of the University of Lynchburg community.
The University of Lynchburg is an equal opportunity employer.
