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Head of the Social Sciences Division

Head of the Social Sciences Division

University of California, Berkeley Job Location: California Date Created: 05-07-2014

Head of the Social Sciences Division - Library
University of California, Berkeley Library
Hiring Range:  Librarian II -- Librarian V ($79,536 - $100,212) (Adjusted Scale 7/1/13)
This is a full time appointment available starting August 2014.
 
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 social sciences. 
 
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 Social Sciences Division includes six libraries -- Anthropology, Business, Education/Psychology, Environmental Design, Social Welfare, and portions of the Doe/Moffitt Libraries. These libraries are primary service points and provide research-level print and digital collections in several languages to support the research and teaching programs of the Haas School of Business, School of Education, School of Information, School of Journalism, School of Public Policy, School of Social Welfare, College of Environmental Design, and College of Letters & Science.  Researchers throughout the university community and beyond heavily use these libraries.
 
Responsibilities 
 
The Head of the Social Sciences Division provides leadership for enhancing the collections, operations, and user-centered services across the six campus libraries of the Social Science 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 social science 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 social science 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 as 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. 
 
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 social sciences 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 social science 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.
 
DEADLINE: The initial review date for this position is 07/01/2014. 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/JPF00398. 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.
 
The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status. For the complete University of California nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy see:
 
Send inquiries to:
 
Susan E. Wong
Director, Library Human Resources
Library Human Resources Department
110 Doe Library
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-3778
Email: librec@library.berkeley.edu

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