Location: Waterville, Maine

Salary: $65,000 - $74,000

Employment Term: Full-time, 12 months

Employer Contact: Patricia Burdick

The Visual and Interdisciplinary Arts (VIA) Librarian is a faculty librarian position.  With an entrepreneurial spirit, the VIA Librarian works within the libraries, across campus and in downtown spaces to develop and promote innovative collections, programs, and projects that expand understanding about and conversations around the arts and object-based learning at Colby College and within the Waterville community. The interdisciplinary aspect of the position is conceived of as an opportunity to explore the intrinsic connections between the arts and disciplines across Colby’s four academic divisions.

The work of the VIA Librarian unfolds in three primary physical spaces, providing opportunities for interconnected teaching, research support and community engagement:

• Bixler library, a branch of the Colby Libraries that is proximate to the Art Department and the Museum of Art;
• Special Collections & Archives (SC&A, in Miller library), the repository for the college’s rare and unique materials including growing collections of artists’ books and zines; and,
• The Libraries’ downtown Center for Book & Print, which serves as a community facing, creative space where arts instruction and making can occur.

The VIA Librarian provides collection and subject-specific research consultation, mentoring, and instruction for all levels of researchers, serving as a bridge between SC&A collections and other scholarly sources in our arts-related collections.  This work complements and partners with the archives education teaching program in SC&A, connecting analog and digital learning with primary and secondary resources and materials.

The VIA Librarian represents the Libraries and is the liaison to the Art Department but also the Museum of Art, the Arts Office and other arts partners and initiatives across campus. Other liaison responsibilities may be assigned. The VIA Librarian also engages with community arts partners in Waterville and beyond.    

Reporting to the Assistant Director for Special Collections & Archives — and as a member of the SC&A team — the Librarian engages in interdisciplinary instruction, collaboration, and research and works cross functionally and collaboratively with other librarians and staff within the Libraries and across the College.  The VIA Librarian is responsible for a creative balance of activities in the following areas. Minimal experience in some areas can be offset by a genuine desire to learn and grow. Other duties may arise in order to leverage new opportunities.

Activities include:

• Designing and delivering arts-related instruction for students and other constituent groups, working out from the needs of the Art Department into the broader community.
• Enhancing exploration of SC&A primary sources as an important component of arts-related teaching and learning at Colby and within the Waterville community.
• Developing learning tools and creative making processes that emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of Colby’s liberal arts curricula and accommodate a range of learning modalities.
• Responding to general reference inquiries (and specific assigned departmental inquiries) as a part of an organization-wide “AskUs” program.
• Providing in-depth research assistance to students, faculty and other community members via appointments, group sessions and other means.

Activities include:

• Researching and identifying materials and resources for the arts-related circulating collection that support Colby’s academic programs and complements and/or expands SC&A holdings.
• In collaboration with the Collections Management team, participating in efforts to decolonize and expand our collection’s scope and reach within the context of Colby’s evolving academic program.
• Developing and exploring new areas for collection development and growth within established budgetary guidelines.
• Taking the lead in building an interdisciplinary collection of artists’ books and zines in SC&A in consultation with SC&A and other library colleagues.

Activities include:

• Overseeing creative operations at the Center for Book & Print, in consultation with the Center’s steering committee comprising Colby faculty and staff as well as Waterville community members, in order to increase excitement about creative processes.
• Employing vibrant programming at the Center to strengthen relationships (and build new connections) between the Colby Libraries/SC&A and the Art Department, Museum of Art and the Arts Office.
• Promoting collections (SC&A as well as circulating) and participating in physical and virtual exhibition and programming.
• Representing the Libraries in close collaboration with Waterville Creates! and associated local partners, the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin consortium and Maine library partners.

Activities include:

• Actively engaging in a scholarly and/or creative agenda that is attuned to work in progressive arts librarianship, critical librarianship, and/or the special collections and archival fields and that demonstrates continued growth as a professional.
• Contributing centrally to the Libraries’ efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion including metadata reparation.
• Serving on a variety of library-wide and college-wide committees to engage within the college ecosystem in capacities beneficial to the mission of the Libraries and the College.

The VIA Librarian engages regularly and closely with the SC&A team and with other colleagues and teams in the Colby Libraries.  Additionally, the Librarian initiates and maintains relationships across campus with entities that help advance the Libraries’ work.  The Librarian also creates and strengthens relationships with departments and staff across campus, alumni, downtown partners, and professional peers throughout Maine and beyond.

May oversee hourly student employees, contract/grant supported personnel, interns, and volunteers.

SALARY RANGE: $65,000 - $74,000 based on qualifications and experience

Required

• ALA-accredited master’s degree in library science or equivalent combination of education and professional experience.
• Two or more years of professional academic library experience.
• One or more years of reference and instruction experience.
• Demonstrated experience in collection development and management.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Ability to work independently and as a member of a team, establish priorities, and work collaboratively as a member of a diverse community
• Demonstrated experience, knowledge, and/or scholarship in inclusion, diversity, social justice, and anti-racism work.  

Preferred

• Background (education and/or experience) in an arts or design related discipline.
• Experience or interest in working with local communities and managing collaborative projects and programming.
• Experience or interest in working with archival and special collections materials in order to expand teaching and learning opportunities.
• Proficiency with new technology in an educational or library setting.
• Genuine passion for artists’ books and zines and for the creative process of making.
• Documented professional engagement.
• Working knowledge of one or more non-English languages.

To apply, please submit applications through Interfolio. Please include cover letter, CV, and contact information for three confidential references. Review of materials will begin soon after 15 September 2023. For further information, contact Patricia Burdick, chair of the search committee ([log in to unmask]).