Department: Education

Supervisor: Managing Director of Education
Schedule: Full-time
FLSA: Exempt
Location: New York
Salary: 90k-100k
How to Apply: https://www.icp.org/jobs/director-of-library

The International Center of Photography (ICP) is the world’s leading institution dedicated to photography and visual culture. Through our exhibitions, education, public programs, and community outreach, we offer an open forum for dialogue about the power of the image. Since our founding in 1974, we have presented more than 700 exhibitions and offered thousands of classes, providing instruction at every level. Our new integrated center on the Lower East Side reunites our school and museum in one space to become the cultural anchor of Essex Crossing.

Position Summary:

For as long as it has existed, the International Center of Photography has been a steward of collections and, through them, a hub of creativity and ingenuity, of aspiration and opportunity. ICP staff is dedicated to inspiring and empowering our communities to become creative thinkers, effective information consumers, skillful researchers, enthusiastic readers and conscientious global citizens. The Director of Library performs a variety of leadership functions for day to day operations stewarding and enriching access to a variety of holdings: books and periodicals, databases, digital items, archives, and records, and leading the team responsible for library development and management.

Essential Functions and Duties:

• Be responsible for the overall management and operation of institutional assets, consisting of Library, Archives [both institutional and acquired], Records, and Digital Assets
• With considerable latitude for independent judgment, lead the development and implementation of policies and plans for present and future collections and services of the Library and Archives, as well as administrative decisions affecting the operations of them, especially with respect to budget, hours, collections, programs, staff assignments, and development and training
• Oversee an integrated and coordinated approach to processing acquisitions and backlog holdings
• Actively engage in the development and implementation of strategic planning and other institutional planning efforts
• Contributes to a values-based culture by providing leadership and demonstrating and requiring adherence to the highest ethical standards
• Plan, develop, interpret, implement and evaluate policies, procedures and practices relative to the delivery of research services to ensure that the needs of all users/groups are met
• Select, assign, train, cross-train, mentor, evaluate and coach library staff to ensure high quality reference service to all patrons
• Coordinate and supervise stacks/shelving maintenance
• Cooperatively initiate development of museum education related to the library and archives
• Participate in departmental budget preparation; monitoring budget expenditures so that allocation of resources is consistent with service goals, and actively seeks to control costs and increase income
• Actively participate in donor cultivation and fundraising efforts and work with the Executive Director, Development, and other departments to make funding requests and to ensure that program information is developed for fundraising purposes, and that all fundraising opportunities are fully exploited
• Perform related duties as required, or assigned
• Serve as liaison to faculty planning and delivering bibliographic instruction program

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Select, assign, train, cross-train, mentor, evaluate and coach library staff to ensure high quality reference service to all patrons

Minimum Qualifications

Education Requirement:

• M.A. or B.A. in History of Photography or Art History preferred

• MLIS or equivalent degree from an accredited school of library science

• At least five years’ experience in an art library

Minimum Experience Requirement:

• At least 3-5 years of significant progressive experience in leadership, supervisory and management roles within a library, archive and/or museum
• Successfully demonstrated knowledge of authoritative humanities and art reference resources in print and electronic formats
• Demonstrated knowledge and command of information standards, taxonomy, digital asset management, and especially open source research tools
• Highly motivated, organized, and detail oriented
• Experience organizing and directing extensive research activities
• Experience and success in raising program support and funding
• Must have experience in staff training
• Demonstrated track record of contributing to broader institutional policies and direction
• Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills
• Must be flexible, reliable and proactive
• Extensive experience working with library and information technologies
• Reading/speaking knowledge of a language other than English

Additional Competency Requirement (Specific Knowledge, Skills and Abilities)

• Maintain a strong commitment to customer service and "radical welcome" - one that is open, embracing, hospitable, respectful, and affirming

• Be a magnetic ambassador and advocate for the Library and Archives

• Have a rigorous and attentive approach to assessment of services and future planning

• Be flexible in accommodating community and staff needs

• Demonstrate creativity in problem-solving

• Be a strong, well-respected, team motivator and mentor

• Evident commitment to building on institutional legacy

• Strong organization skills

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

• Familiarity with current theories in museum education

• Understanding of curriculum development

• Sound knowledge of art, art history, and photography - aesthetics, history, and craft

• Must be able to lead and support a diverse and dynamic faculty and student body

• Ability to work collaboratively

• A strong desire to make the rewards of artistic expression accessible to diverse audiences

• Must be a high energy, enthusiastic, and creative thinker

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

• Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

• Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.

• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

• Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.

• Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

• Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Working Conditions

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear.
• The employee is occasionally required to stand; use hands to finger, handle, or feel and reach with hands and arms.

Special Environmental Factors: (Nature of the work environment)

• The employee is required to work in the general public environment (face to face contact with public).
• The employee is required to work in cramped work environment.
• The employee might be required to work remotely or both in-person and online.
• Evenings and weekends may be required (Schedule subject to change)
• COVID-19 Vaccination Required - As per the recent New York City mandate “KEY to NEW YORK,” All staff working in our indoor facility are required to show proof they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine authorized for emergency use by the FDA or WHO.

Compensation and Benefits

Salary will be competitive and commensurate with experience.

ICP provides its staff with a generous benefits package featuring medical, dental, life insurance, short- and long-term disability, pre-tax transit and flexible spending programs, and 403(b) pension plan.