The MIT Libraries seek an enthusiastic, service-oriented individual to manage access services in two library service points and to participate in service planning and implementation across a collaborative and cross-functional environment. This is a non-librarian, professional position and represents an excellent opportunity for demonstrating and developing supervisory and broad-based library management skills in a fast-paced and collegial academic library setting.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
As one of three Access Services Managers, this position reports to the Information Services Librarian and is responsible for all aspects of access services in two physically separate locations, the Barker Engineering Library and the Rotch Library for Architecture and Planning. At these service points s/he oversees circulation, course reserves, collection maintenance, paging and delivery of materials, and financial transactions. S/he will develop productive working relationships with faculty, researchers, academic and MIT departments to assess information needs and leverage library collections and services to meet user needs. Among the myriad responsibilities of the Access Services Manager is coordinating and participating in the work of the service desks, scheduling coverage and working closely with staff to establish work goals, ensure efficiency and consistency in workflows, plan and coordinate activities and projects, and problem-solve. S/he has full supervisory responsibility, including hiring, training, and performance management, for 6.8 FTE library assistants as well as for student and temporary assistants. S/he creates and reviews documentation of procedures and policies and communicates changes to staff. As part of the ID&LA leadership team s/he participates in strategic planning and assessment, establishing access-related service goals, and planning and implementing new technologies and service improvements. The Access Services Manager contributes expertise in access and circulation policies, procedures and systems to local and system-side initiatives through formal and informal collaborations with librarians and other staff across the organization, as well as task groups and committees. Monitoring safety and maintenance in the two library facilities falls under the purview of the Access Services Manager, who also actively participates in planning and implementing facilities improvements. It is also expected that the Access Services Manager will keep abreast of trends in access services or information delivery across academic libraries and apply acquired knowledge and expertise to improve workflows and services.
Qualifications:
Required – Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and experience plus three years related experience in an academic library (not including experience used to fulfill education equivalency). Solid experience with automated library systems and with standard computer software (MS Word, Excel, e-mail and calendar) and a keenness for learning and mastering new systems and technologies. Demonstrated strong commitment and ability to deliver high-quality customer service. Demonstrated success in training and guiding the work of others. Excellent interpersonal skills including ability to work collaboratively and interact successfully with a diverse staff and user community. Strong communication skills, both written and verbal. Strong administrative and organizational skills including ability to be detail-oriented, flexible and to tolerate ambiguity, and to manage competing priorities and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment. Well-developed ability to independently and collaboratively identify, analyze and follow-through on problems, and to exercise good judgment. Demonstrated initiative and desire to learn. Physical stamina for working two active service desks and shelving/shifting books; tolerance for exposure to dust. Desirable – Supervisory experience. Experience in an academic or research library environment and/or a customer service environment. Experience with Aleph. Project planning and management experience.
SALARY AND BENEFITS: $48,000 minimum. MIT offers excellent benefits including a choice of health and retirement plans, a dental plan, tuition assistance and a relocation allowance. The MIT Libraries afford a flexible and collegial working environment and foster professional growth of staff with management training and travel funding for professional meetings.
APPLICATION PROCESS: Apply online at: http://hrweb.mit.edu/staffing/. Please include cover letter, resume, and contact information for three references. Review of applications will begin July 16, 2012 and will continue until position is filled. MIT is strongly and actively committed to diversity within its community and particularly encourages applications from qualified women and minority candidates.
Through a culture that encourages innovation and collaboration, the MIT Libraries are redefining the role of the 21st century library – making collections more accessible than ever before, and shaping the future of scholarly research. Library staff, at all levels, contribute to this spirit of innovation and to the mission of promoting learning, discovery and the advancement of knowledge at MIT and beyond. “Reinventing the Research Library: The MIT Libraries in the 21st Century” is a short video that looks at how the Libraries are expanding beyond their traditional role to shape 21st century research library –creating innovative services, reaching out to students and faculty, and leading efforts to increase global access to MIT’s scholarly work.
The MIT Libraries support the Institute’s programs of research and study with holdings of more than 2.9 million print volumes and 3.1 million special format items, and terabytes of MIT-owned digital content. In addition, rare special collections, Institute records, historical documents, and papers of noted faculty are held in the Institute Archives and Special Collections. Library resources and services are accessible to students and researchers through the Libraries’ website (http://libraries.mit.edu/), and library spaces are widely available for both collaborative work and quiet study. Traditional library resources are supplemented by innovative services for bioinformatics, GIS, metadata, social science data, and research data management services, as well as multimedia facilities and services for video production, conferencing, webcasting and distance education. The Libraries utilize the Ex Libris Aleph system for its public Web-based catalog and as the support system for user service and processing functions. DSpace@MIT, a digital repository developed over the past ten years by the MIT Libraries, serves to capture, preserve and communicate the intellectual output of MIT’s faculty and research community. Other MIT repositories include: Dome, a second DSpace instance, providing access to a sizable image collection and other digital collections owned by the MIT Libraries; the MIT Geodata Repository for a diverse collection of GIS Data; and MIT’s DataVerse for licensed social science datasets. MIT Libraries maintain memberships and affiliations in arXiv, Association of Research Libraries, the BorrowDirect group, the Boston Library Consortium, DDI Alliance, DuraSpace, HathiTrust, CLIR/Digital Library Federation, the Coalition of Networked Information, EDUCAUSE, North East Research Libraries, OCLC Research Library Partnership, ORCID, and Portico.
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