Head of the Arts & Humanities Division

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Job Description

The University of California, Berkeley seeks a collaborative,
service-oriented librarian with demonstrated management and collection
development experience to advance the Library’s engagement with
research, teaching, and scholarship in support of the arts and
humanities.

The Environment

The UC Berkeley Library is an internationally renowned research and
teaching facility at one of the nation’s premier public universities. In
a highly diverse and intellectually rich environment, Berkeley serves a
campus community of 25,500 undergraduate students, 10,300 graduate
students, and a faculty of 1,500. The Library comprises 20 campus
libraries – including the Doe/Moffitt Libraries, the Bancroft Library,
the C. V. Starr East Asian Library and subject specialty libraries. With
a collection of more than 11 million volumes and a collections budget
of over $15 million, the Library offers extensive collections in all
formats and robust services to connect users with those collections and
build their related research skills.

The Library’s Arts & Humanities Division includes six libraries –
Art History/Classics, Music, and units in Doe/Moffitt Libraries such as
Graduate Services, Media Resources, Morrison, and South/Southeast Asia.
These libraries are primary service points and provide research-level
print and digital collections to support the research and teaching
programs related to arts, language, literature, philosophy and religion
in a multicultural, global context. Researchers throughout the
university community and beyond heavily use these libraries.

Responsibilities

The Head of the Arts & Humanities Division provides leadership
for enhancing the collections, operations, and user-centered services
across the six libraries of the Arts & Humanities Division. The
Division includes approximately 13 librarians and 13 library
professionals with responsibility for collections, instruction,
reference, and academic outreach. As a manager, this position directly
supervises the librarians and a chief operations manager; the chief
operations manager supervises the other career library staff in the
Division.

The Head works collaboratively with library colleagues to assess
strengths and weaknesses in the various collections, determine
priorities, and develop departmental service plans that enhance and
support the academic mission of the University. Mindful of trends
related to research and scholarly communications in arts and humanities
fields, and in partnership with colleagues in the Library, across campus
and at other institutions, the Head will play a guiding role in
initiatives (such as collaborative agreements and digitization projects)
supporting the current and future research needs of faculty, graduate
students, and undergraduate students.

The position reports to the Associate University Librarian for
Educational Initiatives & User Services, with a dotted line to the
Associate University Librarian for Collections, and is a member of the
library-wide management team. The management team works collaboratively
to guide and coordinate the strategic directions, programs, services,
collections, facilities, and policies associated with all public service
units of the UC Berkeley Library. The Head serves as the collection
fund group coordinator for arts and humanities librarians across campus,
providing oversight of substantial collections, endowments, gifts and
various budgets. This position works with colleagues to develop
collection policies and strategies for the benefit of the Library
overall.

As our organization continues to evolve, the Head will play an
important role by helping build strong links between and across
disciplines, departments, and campus libraries. To be an effective
manager, the Head will be a fair, progressive leader to Library staff;
lead department-wide and library-wide discussions; aid in creating and
communicating Library policies; manage personnel and financial matters;
contribute to department-wide and library-wide priority setting and
project management; encourage ongoing staff development; and foster an
environment of collaboration, creative thinking, and continuous
improvement.

This person will have responsibility as library liaison and selector
for a department or discipline that matches her/his subject expertise.
In a limited capacity, the Division head will be engaged with activities
akin to others in the department: selecting materials in all formats;
providing research consultations for faculty, graduate students, and
undergraduate students; developing guides and web pages to facilitate
user access to resources; offering orientations and instructional
seminars; and contributing to reference services for the humanities and
social sciences. A significant portion of collection development is
coordinated through a number of consortial agreements with libraries in
the University of California system, Stanford University, and national
organizations. The Head maintains an awareness of scholarly
communication issues, and identifies relevant online resources to
purchase through campus funds or group agreements negotiated by the
California Digital Library and the Center for Research Libraries.

UC Berkeley librarians are expected to participate in library-wide
planning and governance, and work effectively in a shared
decision-making environment. Advancement in the Librarian series is
based in part on professional contributions beyond the primary
assignment; the successful candidate will show evidence or promise of
such contributions to the Library, campus, UC System, and profession.

Qualifications

Minimum Basic Qualification:

  • Advanced degree by application date

Additional Required Qualifications:

  • Experience supervising and/or leading librarians and career staff
  • Excellent analytical, organizational, problem solving, project management, and communication skills
  • Experience providing reference and instructional services
    related to the arts and humanities in an academic or research library
    environment
  • Experience participating in collection development and effectively managing collection funds in an academic or research library
  • Demonstrated commitment to providing highly responsive public service
  • Ability to foster and maintain partnerships with a broad-based constituency
  • Ability to work effectively with diverse staff and campus user communities
  • Capacity to thrive in an environment of change and respond effectively to shifting needs and priorities

Additional Preferred Qualifications

  • MLS or equivalent degree from an ALA-accredited organization
  • Management experience in an academic library environment
  • Demonstrated record of success managing and overseeing complex projects
  • Experience developing innovative services to enhance research and/or teaching
  • Experience in grant writing and fundraising
  • Knowledge of cataloging and access issues for print and digital collections
  • Knowledge of initiatives and trends related to research in
    arts and humanities fields and to the evolving scholarly communication
    landscape

The Library is currently recruiting for a Head of the Social
Science Division and a Head of the Arts & Humanities Division. We
encourage applicants to apply for both positions if their background and
experience touches on disciplines across these divisions.

The Library at the University of California, Berkeley is
committed to the support and encouragement of a multicultural
environment and seeks candidates who can make a positive contribution in
a context of ethnic and cultural diversity.

As a management position, this librarian position is not represented
by a bargaining unit and is covered by the UC Academic Personnel Manual
(APM).

Librarians are entitled to appropriate professional development
leave, vacation leave, sick leave, and all other benefits granted
non-faculty academic personnel. The University has an excellent
retirement system and sponsors a variety of group health, dental,
vision, and life insurance plans in addition to other benefits.

How to Apply

DEADLINE: The initial review date for this position is July 1, 2014. All completed applications received by this date will be given full consideration; this recruitment will remain open until filled.

Submit applications online at https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/apply/JPF00397. Applications must include a cover letter detailing a statement of qualifications, curriculum vitae noting degrees and relevant work experience, and the names and contact information of three references who are knowledgeable about the applicant’s qualifications for this position.

Send inquiries to:

Susan E. Wong
Director, Library Human Resources
Library Human Resources Department
110 Doe Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone:(510) 642-3778
Email: librec@library.berkeley.edu

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