Classified Ad Title:
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARIAN - College of Wooster

Post Date
2/28/2025

Expiration Date
5/29/2025

Details:
SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARIAN - Faculty status with multi-year contract opportunities
Consistently recognized by Princeton Review as one of the “Best College Libraries,” The College of
Wooster Libraries seeks an innovative and user-centered Special Collections Librarian to manage,
steward, and curate college archives and special collections. Supporting the mission of the Libraries
and the curricular goals of the college, the Special Collections Librarian role is integral in helping us
cultivate an environment where a diverse community of learners discover, create, communicate, and
preserve knowledge and insight.
SUMMARY
Reporting to the Librarian of the College, the Special Collections Librarian provides expertise and
leadership in the management and stewardship of the College of Wooster’s archives and Special
Collections. This leadership role is responsible for the day-to-day Special Collection operations,
including supervision of student workers, archival processing, reference and research support,
collection development, and information and archival literacy instruction for discipline and course
specific instruction.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Directs planning, implementation, and ongoing operations and maintenance of Special
Collections and college archives to provide access for the campus community, alumni, and
other researchers.
• Leads all administrative aspects of Special Collections, including budgeting, inventory, and
coordinating closed stacks maintenance.
• Responsible for the hiring, supervision, training, scheduling, and evaluation of 5 -10 Special
Collections student employees.
• Manages operations of the reading room.
• Develops, arranges, describes, and processes College of Wooster archives collection.
• Collaborates with Collection Management & Discovery Services for the cataloging of rare
books and other special collections.
• Coordinates campus and non-campus Special Collections research requests.
• Responds to reference questions and research requests, and works closely with other
librarians in providing help to users, including reference consultations for individualized
assistance.
• Participates in the library’s instruction program. Provides instruction in Special Collections and
assigned collection development areas, along with shared participation in First-Year Seminar
instruction.
• Responsible for collection analysis and development in disciplines in the humanities and/or
social sciences. (The exact assignment will depend upon the needs of the library and the
specific subject expertise of the librarian.)
• Acts as the curator of Special Collections, curating the collection for displays/exhibits including
leading tours and talks about the display to promote user education and campus engagement.
• Member of the Digital Initiatives Team; responsible for the appraisal, selection, and
recommendation of materials for digitization.
• Participates in college and library governance via faculty, library, and professional committee
work.
• Performs other related duties as may be assigned by the Director of the Library.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS
• Master’s degree from an ALA-accredited program in Library Science, or equivalent, with an
emphasis in archival studies
• 3-5 years’ work experience in libraries, archives, special collections, or historical collections
• Experience with archival descriptive standards (like DACS, EAD) as well as library standards
like Dublin Core and MPLP strategies
• Experience teaching information and archival literacy
• Supervisory experience
• Schedule flexibility to include possible evenings and weekends for college or Libraries special
events
PREFERRED KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS
• Additional Master’s degree in a related field
• Certified Archivist (ACA)
• 2-3 years’ experience with decision-making for archival or special collections policies,
procedures, and management
• Experience with digital collections and archival collection management software
• Experience establishing productive working relationships with students and faculty
• Proven record of clear judgement and decision-making regarding management of archives and
special collections.
• Experience working with undergraduate students and enthusiasm for interpreting the library's
resources to others
Preferred qualifications are not required. The Libraries are committed to enabling the colleague
recruited for this position to develop those skills. Individuals with an interest in the position who meet
the required qualifications are strongly encouraged to apply.
ABOUT US
The College of Wooster is an independent college of the liberal arts and sciences with a commitment
to excellence in undergraduate education. We enroll a racially, socioeconomically, and culturally
diverse student population of approximately 1,960 undergraduate students, of which 6% identify as
Latinx; 10%, as Black/African American; 4%, as Asian; 4%, as multiracial; and 60%, as white. Fifteen
percent (15%) of our students are studying on international visas. Twenty-five percent (25%) are Pelleligible and 12% are first-generation college students. We are interested in hiring faculty who can
contribute to the intellectual vibrancy of the community through culturally relevant pedagogy,
curricular diversity, intercultural fluency, and a commitment to ensuring equitable outcomes for
racially and ethnically minoritized and marginalized students.
The College of Wooster Libraries house close to 700,000 book volumes across three facilities:
Andrews Library; The Gault Library for Independent Study; and the Timken Science Library. The
Special Collections offers rare materials, first editions, archival materials, and unique collections that
preserve social and literary history. In support of the College of Wooster's focus on liberal inquiry and
its signature program, Senior Independent Study, the Libraries foster development of progressively
sophisticated research and scholarly communication skills, cultivation of a rich local academic
community, and the creation and sharing of new knowledge with communities worldwide. The
buildings are alive with research, mentorship, innovation, and collaboration, and are designed to
support the dual mission of supporting advanced individual study by students and broad collaboration
by all members of the academic community.
The Libraries advance our mission through dynamic and high-quality collections, technologies,
learning environments, and services for our campus community. The College of Wooster is a
founding member of the Five Colleges of Ohio, a consortium of selective liberal arts colleges. The
shared library system allows the collections of its member libraries to be readily and quickly available
to all the colleges’ users. Membership in OhioLINK enables The College of Wooster Libraries to
provide access to over 44 million books, 100+ electronic research databases, 33 million electronic
journals and 200,000+ e-books, nearly 85,000 images, videos and sounds and over 100,000 theses
and dissertations from Ohio students at 36 Ohio institutions.
The Libraries enjoy strong and unwavering support from the College’s students, faculty,
administration and board and are recognized as key to the academic mission of the College. The staff
and faculty of the Libraries are respected for their commitment to fostering a community of learners
and independent thinkers. Librarians have faculty status and are active participants in faculty
governance and campus committees.
Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae and a cover letter through
https://apply.interfolio.com/164141.The cover letter should include details applicable to the knowledge
and skills needed in this role, a teaching and archival instruction philosophy, and a statement
explaining how you would contribute to creating accessible user-centered services, programs, and
collections for libraries. Please include information about your understanding of these issues, your
record of activities to date, and your specific plans and goals for advancing these efforts in the library
as well as on campus and in the broader community. Finalists for the Special Collections Librarian
position will be required to provide three references and copies of their unofficial graduate transcripts.
Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Priority will be
given to applications received by March 31, 2025, 11:59 PM EST.
If you have questions regarding Interfolio, please contact Upikin Gunawan, Administrative
Coordinator – Libraries at ugunawan@wooster.edu. Questions about the position should be directed
to Makiba Foster, Librarian of The College at mfoster@wooster.edu.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
The College of Wooster does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex/gender, gender identity,
gender expression, medical condition, political affiliation, religion, creed, ethnicity, national origin
(including ancestry), citizenship status, disability, age, marital status, family responsibilities, sexual
orientation, veteran or military status, predisposing genetic characteristics, domestic violence victim
status, or any other characteristic protected by institutional policy, or by state, local, or federal law. All
offers of employment are subject to verification of the legal right to work in the United States as
required by federal law. The College of Wooster is committed by policy and practice to diversity,
equity and inclusion. For more information see our nondiscrimination policy.


Website:
https://apply.interfolio.com/164141