Special Collections Internship, State Library of Massachusetts, Boston, MA

Posted February 14, 2024

The Special Collections Department is offering part-time internship position to assist with reference, accessions, cataloging, and other special projects. Candidate should be able to work between the hours of 9-5 Monday-Friday. The successful candidate will assist staff, helping on-site patrons, answering telephone and written inquiries.

Duties will expose the candidate to best practices in a unique archival setting processing small collections, appraisal of the Library’s archival records, inventories and re-housing of historical materials, collection surveys, and digitization.

Since the early nineteenth century, the State Library has collected materials that reflect Massachusetts’ government, culture and history, and continues to maintain the most comprehensive collection of Massachusetts state publications in existence. Its collection has been carefully and thoughtfully gathered for almost 200 years, and it forms a tremendous resource for all areas of Massachusetts research. The Library has an active program to make its collections available through public programs and digitization. The State Library’s Special Collections Department includes items that need special care due to their age, fragility, or format. Holdings comprise rare books, manuscripts, broadsides, newspapers, tax valuations, architectural drawings, prints and photographs, scrapbooks, and souvenirs. The collection is particularly strong in nineteenth and twentieth-century city directories, maps, and atlases.

The library is conveniently located in downtown Boston in the Massachusetts State House, one block from the Park Street MBTA station. Our operating hours are Monday through Friday 9-5.

How to Apply

For more information, contact Silvia Mejia at the Special Collections Department: [email protected], or 617-727-2595. To apply for this internship, please send a cover letter and resume to [email protected].