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Library Service Desk Manager

Library Service Desk Manager

Emory University Job Location: Georgia Date Created: 04-26-2013

Reporting to the Head of Access Services, the Library Service Desk Manager has responsibility for the daily management of the Library Service Desk (LSD) in the Robert W. Woodruff Library including direct supervision of 4.5 FTE staff members and indirect supervision of 7 FTE student employees and responsibility for managing the services that the LSD provides, including circulation, in-person reference, virtual reference (chat and email), and learning commons patron assistance. The successful candidate will combined demonstrated public services and management experience with knowledge of reference and circulation in academic or public libraries. Specific duties of the incumbent include the following: •Responsible for planning, development, implementation, management, promotion, and assessment of services offered at the Library Service Desk (LSD) in the Robert W. Woodruff Library. •Establishes priorities and manages resources in support of the operations of the Library Service Desk. •Maintains working knowledge of circulation policies and services in other units (Music and Media Unit) and Emory University Libraries (Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library; Law Library; Oxford Library; and Theology Library) to facilitate communication and collaboration. •Creates, develops, and maintains instructional tools, aids, guides, webpages and tutorials as needed. Works with the Library Service Desk Team coordinators to develop and maintain a training and assessment program for all LSD staff, including liaisons, LSD Team staff and student employees. •Provides up to 8 hours per week in-depth circulation and reference assistance at the LSD and via email, IM, and phone to Emory faculty, students, staff, and community users. Provides coverage for the Library Service Desk including opening, evening/weekend shifts and holidays as needed. •Interprets Woodruff Library circulation policies pertaining to loan periods, patron accounts and bills; makes decisions on exceptions to policies as requested by patrons. •Works with library facilities and the Head of Access Services to maintain and enhance the physical desk and surrounding service area on level 2. •Reviews and assesses workflow relating to services provided by the Library Service Desk and implements process improvement as needed. Manages or participates in projects related to the Library Service Desk and the services the desk provides. •Directs the work of librarians and library staff who provide reference service at the LSD and via email, phone and chat to Emory faculty, students, staff and community users. •Works with reference staff in other units (Music and Media Unit) and divisions (MARBL) and Emory University Libraries (Woodruff Health Sciences Center Library; Law Library; Oxford Library; and Theology Library) to promote a community of practice for reference services across all libraries. •Serves as selector for the print and electronic reference collection. Leads the Reference Collection Team. Manages the reference collection through review projects. Performs regular assessment to maintain a sustainable and usable reference collection for Emory University faculty and students. •Consults with Emory students and faculty on the use of library resources for their research, study, and teaching through in-person appointments, e-mail, and telephone. •Advises Head of Access Services on the purchase of software and hardware used in support of the LSD, including scheduling, statistical, and chat software. •Works closely with the Core Systems Team to support the circulation module of the Integrated Library System (ILS). Updates configurations in the ILS as needed. •Gathers, analyzes, verifies and reports on data from a number of sources including the ILS, transactional tracking software, web analytics, door counts, survey data and comment cards. Uses patron data to develop and assess services offered to faculty, staff, student and community patrons of the LSD. Markets services and programs to patrons. Works with the library web developers to manage LSD-related content on the library web pages. •Serves as the Library Service Desk Manager with programmatic responsibility for functional areas and supervision of staff (4.5 FTE staff and 7FTE student employees). •Works with direct reports to coordinate recruitment, hiring, orientation, training, supervision, and evaluation of student employees. Coaches, mentors, and counsels both direct and indirect reports in order to develop staff in a positive and proactive manner ensuring individuals have opportunity to develop broad knowledge of library operations and services as well specialized skills. Works with LHR staff to develop specific training for staff based on need and participates in succession planning and management initiatives as appropriate. •Responsible for developing and maintaining up-to-date library staff job descriptions for staff within unit. Reviews requests for new positions and reclassifications and submits to Head of Access Services for consideration. Works with LHR staff to facilitate reclassifications. •Conducts annual performance evaluations for direct reports and oversees annual process within the unit ensuring that annual evaluations are conducted in a timely manner and submitted on time in accordance with campus and library policy. •Establishes and maintains communication with unit staff to facilitate the work of the library and ensure library staff is informed of library activities and initiatives. •Represents the library on professional and scholarly association committees, task forces, work groups, and other entities at the local, state, regional, national, and international level as appropriate to position and area of expertise. •Participates in appropriate professional and scholarly associations and organizations including maintaining membership and/or accreditation; attending meetings, conferences, workshops; and serving in appointed or elected positions. •Presents on work-related topics and research at professional and scholarly conferences, symposia, and workshops. Publishes on work-related topics and research in professional and scholarly publications. •Maintains up-to-date professional knowledge and skills in areas related to primary job assignment as well as maintaining general knowledge of current trends in higher education, academic libraries, and information and educational technology.

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