USA-Position: Reference Librarian- University of Florida Levin College of Law

CLASSIFICATION TITLE:

AST UNIV LIBRARIAN

JOB DESCRIPTION:

Overview: The Lawton Chiles Legal Information Center (LIC) at the University of Florida, Levin College of Law seeks a Reference Librarian to join us as part of our Research and Instructional team. The ideal candidate for the position will have experience teaching, helping a variety of patrons with reference questions, and providing research support to faculty. This position must be able to work both independently and as a member of a team. Some evening and weekend reference shifts are required.

This position offers extraordinary teaching opportunities. Law librarians at the University of Florida are responsible for teaching Legal Research, a required course in the first-year curriculum. The librarians develop both the content and assessment methods of the first-year research course and teach one or two sections of the course. Law librarians also have the opportunity to teach an elective two-credit Advanced Legal Research course for second- and third-year students.

Librarians at the University of Florida have tenure-track status in the University Libraries, and these positions will begin at the rank of Assistant University Librarian. As members of the university faculty, librarians have significant opportunities and support for scholarly research and writing, and for service to the law school, UF Libraries, the University, and the law library profession.

Responsibilities:

As a member of the Research and Instructional team, librarians will perform several tasks, such as:

• Staffing the Reference Desk (up to 10 hours per week, including an evening or weekend shift);
• Acting as a library liaison to approximately 10 faculty members;
• Preparing and maintaining research guides for library users;
• Providing collection development support to one or more areas of the curriculum;
• Providing instruction by means of class presentations, informal workshops, small group seminars and individualized instruction;

Each librarian will also teach first-year Legal Research (1 credit) and/or Advanced Legal Research (2 credits).

As part of the tenure track process, each librarian must also:

• Contribute to the LIC, the Levin College of Law, the UF Libraries, the University, and the profession through substantive involvement committee work at the local, regional, and national level and active participation in professional organizations;

• Actively research and publish in an area related to law librarianship, legal education, librarian duties, etc.

Librarians will also have other duties as assigned.

ADVERTISED SALARY:

$55,000.00, commensurate with experience.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited institution;
• L.S. (or equivalent degree) from an ALA-accredited institution, or current enrollment in an ALA-accredited M.L.S (or equivalent) program (completion of the M.L.S. degree will be a condition of continued employment);
• Excellent computer and telecommunications skills, including proficiency with web-based information tools;
• Familiarity with and understanding of legal research materials in all formats, including skill in the use of Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg;
• Demonstrated teaching abilities;
• Excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills;
• Strong service orientation;
• Ability to develop productive working relationships, and work effectively as a team member as well as independently;
• Ability to meet deadlines and work well in a collaborative environment to achieve common goals.

• Commitment to professional development, including continuing education, publishing scholarly works, and speaking.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Professional experience in an academic, court or law firm library, and a demonstrated record of providing sophisticated research assistance to faculty or attorneys are preferred (entry-level candidates with experience working in a law library as a student will be considered and are strongly encouraged to apply);
• Professional experience as a practicing attorney or judicial law clerk; 

• Experience or demonstrated interest in EITHER:
  • Tax law and tax research, OR
  • Instructional design technology to support both classroom and online teaching.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS:

This is a full-time, 40-hour week, library faculty tenure-track position.

Benefits: Twenty-two vacation days and 13 sick days annually; excellent health insurance and other insurance benefits; TIAA/CREF and other retirement options; no state or local income tax. Details at http://hr.ufl.edu/benefits/.

Environment: The University of Florida (UF) is a major, public, comprehensive, land-grant, research university. The state’s oldest and most comprehensive university, UF is among the nation’s most academically diverse public universities. The Levin College of Law is the flagship law school for the State of Florida. The Lawton Chiles Legal Information Center at the University of Florida, Levin College of Law is one of the largest libraries in the southeast United States. The library serves faculty, staff and students in the Levin College of Law, and other University of Florida students and faculty, as well as the Florida Bar and the general public. The library’s principal user population includes approximately 60 tenure-track faculty and 40 other full-time faculty members, and approximately 1,000 J.D. and LL.M. students.

To apply: Submit resume, cover letter, and three references (names and contact information) via the University of Florida Jobs web site at https://jobs.ufl.edu/.  The search will remain open until July 19, 2016 and applications will be reviewed as received.   The anticipated date will be as soon as possible after July 19, 2016.

Final candidate will be required to provide official transcript to the hiring department upon hire.  A transcript will not be considered “official” if a designation of “Issued to Student” is visible.  Degrees earned from an education institution outside of the United States are required to be evaluated by a professional credentialing service provider approved by National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES), which can be found at http://www.naces.org/.

The University of Florida is an equal opportunity institution dedicated to building a broadly diverse and inclusive faculty and staff.