Samuel R. Scholes Library of Ceramics
Public Services and User Experience Librarian
The Samuel Scholes Library of Ceramics at Alfred University seeks a forward thinking, team oriented, customer service focused librarian to serve within a specialized academic library. Primarily serving undergraduate and graduate programs in Art and Design and Engineering and Science, Scholes Library also provides integrated library services with the Herrick Library at Alfred University.
Responsibilities:
The Public Services and User Experience Librarian position is a 12 month, administrative (non-tenure) position reporting to the Director of Scholes Library. This key administrative position is responsible for planning and coordinating all public facing operations including circulation, student worker hiring, training, and scheduling, all service desk operations, reference desk scheduling, user experience enhancements, and policy development. This position also serves as assistant to the Director in reporting and providing library statistics. Working in a fast paced, highly collaborative environment, the Public Services and User Experience Librarian serves as a key operational link to all departmental areas within Scholes Library and public face of the library as a whole.
Primary activities:
Circulation
The Public Services and User Experience Librarian is responsible for the management and maintenance of circulation in the library. This includes the systems and technologies that control circulation—such as our circulation policies and LMS (Aleph)—as well as oversight of stack maintenance, shelf-reading, and other procedures that allow circulation of the physical collection. This individual will also collect public services statistics for the Library Director.
Supervisory
The person filling this position has an important supervisory role in the Public Services department. This individual is responsible for the hiring, scheduling, training, and supervision of approximately 35 student assistants and part-time reference assistants. They also have responsibility for developing and updating procedures and manuals related to the student workers.
Administrative
The Public Services Librarian works closely with the Library Director in several areas of library administration. In an outward facing capacity, the librarian in this role communicates with patrons and other external constituencies for all operational and service matters. Within the library, they gather, report, and analyze data across all units, as well as develop internal procedures and policies as necessary.
Assessment
In concert with their role collecting statistics for the Library Director, the Public Services Librarian is responsible for facilitating assessment efforts within Scholes Library and mapping this work to relevant university-wide strategic planning as appropriate. This individual will have a significant role in library assessment, both in Scholes and across the libraries.
User Experience
The Public Services and User Experience Librarian is dedicating to improving user experience for our patrons, monitoring current public service trends, leading initiatives to develop and expand services, and assisting patrons with special requests as appropriate. They are the public face of the library, coordinating guides, signage, tech support, and other front line patron needs, as well as orientation sessions on request.
Reference/Concierge Services
As part of the outward-facing user experience aspect of this position, the Public Services Librarian is responsible for reference services in the library. They coordinate the scheduling of librarians and part-time assistants at the reference desk, participate in the reference rotation, ensure that the reference desk is staffed at all scheduled hours, and provide “concierge” service to all patrons.
Other duties:
- Participates in professional activities, serves on appropriate campus committees, and performs other College and University duties appropriate to administrative status
- Participates in professional development activities on and off campus
- Participates in strategic planning for campus libraries
- Assists with group information literacy instruction as needed
- Other duties as assigned
Qualifications: An ALA accredited MLS or equivalent degree is required; experience working in Circulation, Public Services and/or Reference Services in an academic library is preferred. Very strong technology skills and experience with administrative functions of an integrated library system are highly desirable. This position requires a strong customer service orientation, as well as excellent oral and written communication and supervisory skills. Subject background or coursework in art or engineering is a plus. This is a 12-month, non-tenure position requiring professional contributions to campus committees as assigned. This position also requires professional development and participation in collaboration within the greater SUNY Library community.
To apply, please submit the following to the address below: (Email & PDF preferred). Application review begins November 16, 2015 and will continue until the position is filled.
1) A letter of introduction outlining how your qualifications and experience match this opportunity;
2) Current Resume/Vitae;
3) Names, email, and phone numbers of three appropriate references
Email materials to: humanresources@alfred.edu
or mail to:
Alfred University
Office of Human Resources
Greene Hall
Alfred, NY 14802
Alfred University, Alfred, NY, actively subscribes to a policy of equal employment opportunity, and will not discriminate against any employee, student or applicant because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, gender identification or expression, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry or national origin, marital status, genetic information, military or veteran status, domestic violence victim status, criminal conviction status, political affiliation or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Protected veterans, minorities and women are encouraged to apply.
