Head of Archives and Special Collections, Biddle Law Library University of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia, PA

Head of Archives and Special Collections, Biddle Law Library

Librarian D

The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School is one of the nation’s oldest and most distinguished law schools. The School offers a unique approach, incorporating cross-disciplinary legal education, a distinctly collaborative environment, and an innovative curriculum to enrich student learning. The small and highly interdisciplinary faculty achieves scholarly excellence while emphasizing a shared effort to advance understanding of the law. The result is an intellectual community that bridges traditional boundaries and disciplines within a renowned internal culture of collegiality, making the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School an extraordinarily supportive academic community for all its members.

The Biddle Law Library is an inclusive team of professionals with a kind, collaborative spirit and a drive to innovate. We meet our strategic goals by fostering a mutually supportive culture that encourages teamwork, while also creating space for individuals to cultivate their own initiatives. The Archives and Special Collections department is responsible for collecting, preserving, and making accessible the archives of Penn Carey Law along with the archival collections of our partner institutions: the American Law Institute, the American College of Bankruptcy, and the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges

Reporting to the Associate Director for Scholarly Data and Innovation, the Head of Archives and Special Collections (ASC) oversees the staff, resources, operations, and collections of the department and serves as a liaison between ASC and our partners and stakeholders. A successful candidate will bring leadership, organization, vision, and support to the ASC team, and will work to align departmental focus and capacity with institutional needs.

• Serve as primary liaison with partner institutions regarding the development, maintenance, processing, and prioritization of their archival collections
• Develop, revise, communicate, and document departmental goals, policies, procedures, and guidelines for the Archives and Special Collections department
• Evaluate the physical and digital infrastructure of ASC, identify shortfalls and areas of need, and propose solutions to stakeholders
• Oversee and ensure maintenance and preservation of archives, rare books, and other special collections consistent with University standards and best practices
• Create and monitor budgets for personnel, equipment, digital infrastructure, and materials allocations.Prepare annual budget reports and requests for Penn Carey Law and our partner organizations
• Contribute to goals for digital access to collections, digitization and metadata projects, and collaborative digital projects

• Assign responsibilities, projects, and oversee departmental workflows
• Hire, train, supervise, and evaluate departmental personnel
• Identify professional development opportunities for ASC staff

• Lead public-facing services for the archives, including outreach, communications, exhibits, and programming
• Work with the Law School’s Department of Alumni Relations and other offices regarding transfers to and requests regarding special collections
• Liaise with other Law School departments and administration to preserve law school history
• Liaise with Law School faculty to discuss donation of papers and materials
• Coordinate and provide reference and other research assistance to researchers, court staff, the general public, and others seeking access to archives materials
• Meet with university archivists to coordinate information and resource sharing

• Identify and acquire materials for ASC that align with policies for collection development, records retention, and prioritization of DEIB
• Coordinate donations of materials, prepare deeds of gift or other transfer documents, and ensure proper acknowledgements are made
• Solicit donations of new materials relevant to areas of collection
• Monitor Special Collections spaces and conditions, conduct routine inventories, and prepare departmental supply requests
• Contribute to maintenance and creation of infrastructure for digital preservation
• Implement and maintain a records management program for the Law School

• Master in Library Science or equivalent degree from an ALA-accredited graduate program
• 5-7 years of progressively responsible professional experience in libraries and archives
• 1-3 years of supervisory experience
• Strong leadership, organizational, decision-making, and presentation skills
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of key issues, emerging technologies, and recent trends in archives and special collections
• Experience with budget planning and allocation in a large organization
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills
• Familiarity with digitization, metadata, and digital preservation
• Demonstrated ability to work with great attention to detail and accuracy

• Work experience in a higher education setting
• Evidence of success in introducing and managing change in a complex environment
• Experience with modern platforms for digital archival storage, management, and access, e.g. ArchivesSpace, Archivematica, and ContentDM
• Demonstrated aptitude for departmental leadership
• Familiarity or experience working with oral history collections

• Candidates must submit a resume and cover letter for consideration

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Law School

$61,046.00 – $85,000.00 Annual Rate

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