Reference Assistant, Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Posted January 17, 2014

Position Title:  Reference Assistant

Location:  Houghton Library, Harvard

Normal Workweek:  35 hours/week – Benefits Eligible

Please apply online via the “Employment at Harvard” web page < http://goo.gl/m7RMlm>.

Click on “Search Jobs in ASPIRE”, after that page opens, scroll down to the “Auto req ID” field and type in the job req number 31464.

 

Please note this is a term-limited position that will end no later than June 30, 2015.

 

Job Description: 

Reporting to the senior Reference Librarian, this position provides Public Services assistance in the Houghton Library, which is a closed-stack rare book and manuscript special collection library. This position will work 9am-5pm Tuesday through Saturday, with possible occasional evening shifts.

 

Duties include orienting new readers to the collections, registering readers and monitoring the Reading Room, performing circulation activities including retrieving/returning collection materials in the stacks, and providing reference assistance (both on- and off-site). This position will also provide substantial assistance with photo-duplication order processing.   Other duties as required. 

 

Job Requirements:

Basic Qualifications: Knowledge of Microsoft Office required. Minimum of one year of applicable experience in a library setting, preferably in a Special Collections. Excellent communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills. Strong customer service orientation.

Exceptional attention to detail.

 

Additional Qualifications: BA preferred. Knowledge and enthusiasm for history, literature and the performing arts. Foreign language skills desirable. Sensitivity to the handling of rare and fragile materials. 

 

Position requires ability to work on one’s feet for long periods (standing, walking, climbing stairs, and ladders), to work at a computer for long periods, to lift up to 40 pounds, and to work  in an environment which may have notable amounts of dust. The work associated with position is performed in office areas, stacks, and library reading rooms

 

Additional Information: Founded in 1638, Harvard has a rich legacy of libraries that continues into the 21st century. In total there are over 70 libraries at Harvard that comprise the Harvard library system, with combined holdings of over 16 million items. More than 11 million of those items are part of the collection of a centrally administered unit within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences that is referred to as the Harvard College Library (HCL). It is comprised of Widener, Lamont, Birkhoff Mathematical, Cabot Science, Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Fine Arts, Fung, Harvard-Yenching, Houghton, Loeb Music, Physics Research, and Tozzer libraries and the Harvard Film Archive, Harvard Map Collection, and the Harvard Theatre Collection.