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Public Services and Engagement Librarian, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL

Posted December 31, 2018

Public Services and Engagement Librarian

Open Rank Faculty University Library

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

 

Position Available: The expected start date is as soon as possible after the closing date. This is a 100% twelve-month, tenure-system appointment.

 

The University of Illinois is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action employer. Minorities, women, veterans and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply. For more information, visit http://go.illinois.edu/EEO. To learn more about the University’s commitment to diversity, please visit http://www.inclusiveillinois.illinois.edu.

 

Duties and Responsibilities

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library seeks a dynamic and collaborative librarian to serve as the Public Services and Engagement Librarian for the Library’s Life Sciences Division.  The Life Sciences Division is connected to a variety of units across campus, including the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES); the College of Veterinary Medicine; the School of Integrative Biology; the School of Molecular and Cellular Biology; the Department of Landscape Architecture; the Department of Urban and Regional Planning; the Prairie Research Institute; and the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.   The Funk ACES Library serves as the hub library for life sciences on the Illinois campus.

 

This position requires a professional with interest in and enthusiasm for library outreach, engagement, and public services.  Working closely with other Life Sciences Division librarians, the successful candidate will expand and coordinate the division’s outreach and engagement activities and marketing materials.  The public service aspects of the position include, but are not limited to, serving as the liaison to two units in the College of ACES that are dedicated to outreach and communication themselves – the Agricultural Communications Program; and University of Illinois Extension, including the Research Centers.  The position will also manage the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC), which is affiliated with the Agricultural Communications Program and located in the Funk ACES Library.

 

The University Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign values diversity of thought, perspective, experience and people, and is actively committed to a culture of inclusion and respect. We are dedicated to the practices of social justice, diversity, and equality, and strive to overcome historical and divisive biases in our society and embrace diverse points of view as assets to the fabric of our community. All positions will be called on to contribute to building this environment in the Library and throughout the campus community, and we encourage candidates to apply who share these values.

 

Position Description

Reporting to the Head of the Funk ACES Library, the Public Services and Engagement Librarian contributes to outreach, engagement and public services of the University Library’s Life Sciences Division.  Specific duties include:

  • Serve as the liaison to the College of ACES Agricultural Communications Program and to University of Illinois Extension, including the Research Centers.
  • Manage the Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC), which includes managing the budget, supervising graduate assistants, coordinating the website, promoting and marketing the center, and collaborating with the College of ACES Agricultural Communications Program.
  • Participate in public services and other user-focused projects as part of the Funk ACES Library.
  • Expand and coordinate the outreach and engagement activities for the Life Sciences Division (LSD), such as social media accounts, regular panel discussions in the library, exhibits and displays, orientation events and tours for prospective and new students, and finals week activities in the library.
  • Develop and maintain marketing tools, content, and other support to optimize library and librarian outreach activities.
  • Collaborate with LSD liaison librarians to enhance their marketing outreach and to promote faculty, student, and staff use of library collections and services.
  • Engage faculty, students, and staff as current or potential users of library services and collections.
  • Promote digital and physical collections connected to LSD.
  • Participate in and contribute to University Library engagement and communication efforts.
  • Contribute to the national and international reputation of the University Library through professional research, service and collaboration with national colleagues and organizations.

 

Qualifications

Required:

  • Master’s degree from an ALA-accredited library school or equivalent
  • At least one year of pre-or-post graduate experience working in an academic library
  • At least one year of experience in outreach and engagement, or an equivalent combination of training, education and experience
  • Experience providing public service in a library context
  • Experience with social media tools for organizational outreach or marketing
  • Demonstrated ability to work collegially and collaboratively with others in a team environment
  • Demonstrated ability to work cooperatively and effectively with all elements of an academically and culturally diverse community
  • Excellent interpersonal and written communication skills
  • Preparation and commitment to conduct independent scholarship consistent with a tenure-track faculty appointment and indications of ability to meet the promotion and tenure requirements of the University

 

Preferred:

  • Experience in promoting library services and engaging key stakeholders
  • Experience coordinating, leading, and assessing programs and events
  • Experience developing promotional materials and programs
  • Experience or coursework in special collections and/or metadata
  • Degree or coursework in a life sciences or agriculture field, or experience in an academic science library

 

Environment:

The Funk ACES Library is in a beautiful, distinctive building that opened in 2001.  It serves as the hub library for life sciences on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus and is closely linked with the Veterinary Medicine Library. The Funk Library is the primary facility serving students and researchers in the areas of agriculture, biology, natural history, environmental science, natural resources, landscape architecture, and urban planning. The University Library’s Life Science Division is currently home to 5 librarians, 5 staff, and 6 graduate assistants from the School of Information Sciences. The Agricultural Communications Documentation Center (ACDC), which is located in the Funk ACES Library, strives to serve as a center of excellence in the field of agricultural communications by collecting literature for and offering services to users around the world.

 

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the original 37 public land-grant institutions created after President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act in 1862. The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) ranks the University of Illinois as 25th in the World (2010); 4th World rank in Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences (2010); 18th World rank in Life and Agriculture Sciences (2010); 23rd World rank in Natural Sciences and Mathematics (2010). The University has 2,548 faculty members, including 1,851 tenure/tenure track, and 697 visiting faculty and instructional staff, and 12,239 graduate and professional students (among its 44,000 total students). It consistently ranks among the top ten U.S. Universities in number of earned doctorates awarded annually in 2012, $583,754,000 was spent on research and development in science and engineering.

 

Salary and Rank: Salary and rank commensurate with credentials and experience. 

 

Terms of Appointment: Twelve-month appointment; 24 annual vacation days; 11 annual paid holidays; 12 annual sick-leave days (cumulative), plus an additional 13 sick-leave days (non-cumulative) available, if needed, each year; health insurance requiring a small co-payment is provided to employee (with the option to purchase coverage for spouse and dependents); required participation in State Universities Retirement System (SURS) (8% of annual salary is withheld and is refundable upon termination), with several options for participation in additional retirement plans; newly-hired employees are covered by the Medicare portion of Social Security and are subject to its deduction.

 

Campus and Community:  The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a comprehensive and major public land-grant university (Doctoral/Research University-Extensive) that is ranked among the best in the world. Chartered in 1867, it provides undergraduate and graduate education in more than 150 fields of study, conducts theoretical and applied research, and provides public service to the state and the nation. It employs 3,000 faculty members who serve 31,000 undergraduates and 12,000 graduate and professional students; approximately 25% of faculty receives campus-wide recognition each year for excellence in teaching. More information about the campus is available at www.illinois.edu.

 

The University is located in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana, which have a combined population of 100,000 and are situated about 140 miles south of Chicago, 120 miles west of Indianapolis, and 170 northeast of St. Louis. The University and its surrounding communities offer a cultural and recreational environment ideally suited to the work of a major research institution. For more information about the community, visit: <http://illinois.edu/about/community/community.html> or <http://www.ccchamber.org/>.

 

To Apply:  To ensure full consideration, please complete your candidate profile at https://jobs.illinois.edu and upload a letter of interest, resume, and contact information including email addresses for three professional references. Applications not submitted through this website will not be considered. For questions, please contact 217-333-8169. 

 

Deadline: In order to ensure full consideration, we urge candidates to submit application materials on or before January 11. 2019.

 

The University of Illinois conducts criminal background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer.

 

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