Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library
The George Washington University
Position Description: Associate Director, Library Operations
Position Description Summary: The George Washington University (GW) is the largest research university in the nation’s capital and is located in the heart of Washington, DC. GW offers undergraduate and graduate programs in many disciplines including medicine, health sciences, public health, and nursing. The Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library at The George Washington University supports the educational, clinical, and research needs of the Schools of Medicine and Health Sciences, Public Health and Health Services, and Nursing both on campus and through distance education programs. The library collections consist of over 6,700 electronic texts, 6,500 journals, and 125+ databases in addition to print collections of approximately 75,000 items.
Reporting to the Director, this senior management position coordinates the Library Operations team, including collection development, acquisitions, serials, electronic resources and their management, cataloging and authority control, collection maintenance, the Alma library services platform and Primo discovery system, institutional repository, scholarly publishing support initiatives, document delivery, and web services. This position also manages the materials budget, facilities planning, and all personnel issues for Library Operations.
The Associate Director provides strategic visions for collections and communicates that vision to the user community. This position plays a major role in planning and implementing systems and in the overall planning and management of the library. Areas of increasing significance for this position include the compilation and analysis of usage and collection statistics, the expansion of electronic collections, increasing scholarly communication services including institutional repository and data management, and the identification and preparation of grant proposals to expand emerging technologies and services like 3D printing and virtual reality applications.
The Associate Director, Library Operations, is crucial to promoting good library relations and teamwork, including relationships with GW’s research enterprise and external contracts. The position works closely with all Library functional areas, including information, instructional, and access, as well as other GW libraries, educational technology services, GW committees and offices, and student representatives to assure effective delivery of products and services.
Specific duties and responsibilities include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Coordination of the Library Operations management team
- Supervision of 4.75 librarians and 4.5 technicians
- Responsibility for overall planning and budgeting of the Library’s collections
- Responsibility for overall planning and coordination of access to electronic resources on- and off-site
- Promotion of strategies to simplify access to and increase the use of electronic resources
- Assessment of collection in terms of usage and costs and alignment with user needs
- Responsibility for overall planning and implementation of library systems for resource management, access, and document delivery
- Coordination of library systems with the Library’s web and social media presence
- Tracking and promotion of scholarly communication issues to inform library practice and educate faculty and to support scholarly publishing initiatives
- Planning for and oversight of physical facilities
- Service on appropriate Library, School, and University Committees
- Preparation of grant proposals to expand Library services and resources
- Oversight of documentation of all departmental activities and systems
- Participation in planning and management of the library as a whole
- Participation in the School of Medicine and Health Sciences Clinical Integration Sessions (CIS) program as a librarian tutor
- Participation in the departmental Library Liaison program providing instruction and informational services to various departments (both academic and clinical) in conjunction with the reference department.
Minimum Qualifications:
- MLS or a combination of a graduate degree and professional experience in libraries.
- At least 5 years of increasing responsibility in an academic library or health sciences library, including at least 3 years of supervisory experience
- Demonstrated strong working knowledge of library technical services operations and integrated library systems
- Demonstrated working knowledge of budgets and finance in an academic library
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in a health sciences library or in an academic health sciences environment.
- Demonstrated knowledge of emerging technologies, including institutional repositories, remote delivery of services, new modes of scholarly communication, and electronic resource management
- Demonstrated experience in project planning, implementation, and evaluation
- Strong team-building skills
- Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication, and problem-solving skills
- Experience in providing instruction to small groups.
- Experience in developing documentation
Advertised Salary: Rank and salary are contingent upon qualifications and are competitive for DC-area academic health sciences libraries. Anticipated salary range $100,000-$115,000
Other Benefits: Comprehensive benefits package includes 22 days/year of paid annual leave; 12 days/year of paid sick leave; paid winter break and 7 other holidays; medical, dental, and vision; 401(A) retirement plan, 4% base and GW will match 150% of the first 4% of your 403(B) contributions, up to a maximum of 6% of your eligible compensation; tuition assistance; and paid parental leave. For benefits details, please visit GW Benefits.
Special Instructions to Applicants:
- To be considered, please complete an online application and upload a cover letter, a curriculum vitae, and the names and contact information for three professional references. Review of applications will begin on October 24, 2022, and continue until the position is filled. Only complete applications will be considered. Employment offers are contingent on the satisfactory outcome of a standard background screening.
Other Information
- Employer will not sponsor for employment visa status.
- Please note that the University has mandated that all personnel be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to accessing campus.
The George Washington University is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer that does not unlawfully discriminate in any of its programs or activities on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law.