Department Chair of Library Resources

Librarian Associate Professor

Department of Library Resources, KSU Library System

Kennesaw State University is now accepting applications for a twelve-month, non-tenure track Department Chair of Library Resources and Librarian Associate Professor faculty position in the Department of Library Resources, which begins December 2019.

Distinguishing Features of this Position:

The Kennesaw State University Library System seeks a visionary, passionate, inspiring, collegial, flexible, service-oriented, and team-based senior-level librarian administrator for the open position of Department Chair of Library Resources.

This experienced librarian administrator will be in a unique position to utilize exemplary opportunities to boldly shape the multi-campus KSU Library System as the KSU campus seeks to establish itself as a top tier R2 university in the future by 2023.

This position is under the direct supervision of the Dean and Assistant Vice-President for the KSU Library System. As a dynamic member of the Library Leadership Team, the selected individual will work collaboratively with all members of KSU Library Administration to achieve organizational goals and strategies.

The successful candidate will bring a deep understanding of, and significant experience in, addressing the evolving role and challenges of today’s complex higher education institutions and libraries in the digital age. The preferred candidate will have a high tolerance for recurring and rapid change as well as an understanding of the developing perceptions of the library system as a campus partner.

The candidate will have a strong desire to provide excellence and creativity in collections, facilities, organizational improvement and services that are meaningful and user-centered to assist in student success and to meet the University’s commitment to student recruitment, retention, progression, and graduation.

The incumbent has full supervisory responsibilities and oversight for two direct reports, the Directors of Collection Development (including digital scholarship) and Director of Technical Services (including library systems). These two Units are comprised of approximately 13 library faculty and 10 library staff.

The home location for this position is the Kennesaw Campus; however, this individual will be expected to work at the Marietta Campus and may travel to other KSU sites as necessary. This position requires working a minimum of 40 hours a week and a flexible schedule, including some nights, holidays and weekends as needed.

Major Responsibilities:

Administration (85%)

1. Lead the Department of Library Resources with vision and flexibility that inspires contributions supporting excellence in user-centered collections, facilities, organizational development, and services, while improving the overall effectiveness and efficiencies of operations. Participate in the KSU Library System’s Senior-Officer-Present Program.
2. Supervise, train, and guide the Department of Library Resources personnel in prioritization, establishing workloads and setting expectations in compliance with national standards. Develop and advocate for training and professional development opportunities for Units and individuals. Participate in librarian and staff annual reviews, salary/merit increases, promotion process and disciplinary actions. Identify individuals for mentoring.
3. As part of Library Administration, collaborate with individuals in and out of the library system to improve and expand facilities, collections, and services for students and faculty. Foster a culture of excellence in services and facilitating the work of others. Utilize excellent communication and problem-solving skills to work effectively within a culturally diverse community of library colleagues, patrons, vendors, students, faculty and the outside community. As part of Library Administration, collaborate, develop and approve policies and procedures for smooth organizational functioning in a timely fashion.
4. Collaborate with Library Administration and other key personnel in annual budget planning, tracking, and implementation.
5. Guide the Department of Library Resources in the strategic planning and assessment processes. Work with the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Library Administration to create, analyze, update, plan, and evaluate the contributions of the Department regarding KSU Library System’s Strategic Plan & Annual Report, SACSCOC / accreditation reports, Improve KSU, and the annual collection of academic library statistics for ACRL and other requestors.
6. Oversee KSU’s Library Systems’ collaborative work and partnership with KSU’s University Information Technology Services and the University System of Georgia’s GALILEO digital library system to enhance KSU Library System service for student and faculty success.
7. Lead department in efficiently and effectively making resources discoverable for library users. Oversee the development and implementation of new and existing procedures and policies relating to metadata standards and application guidelines to enhance access to discoverable library resources.
8. Represent the Department of Library Resources at meetings as appropriate, including the monthly KSU Director and Department Chairs Assembly.
9. Be self-directed with creating customized professional development plans each year while guiding direct reports and their corresponding Units in their yearly development of professional development plans. Stay informed of and keep library employees up to date on trends, legislation, and changes that especially impact academic collection development, systems and technical services.

Librarianship (5%)

1. Liaison Program: Participate in the faculty liaison program as a member of a specific subject team, which can include collection development, outreach, and/or instruction.
2. Reference: Provide research assistance (in person, by phone, via chat, or other communication modes) to students and other members of the KSU community.

Service (5%)

Perform KSU Library System service, KSU University service, or professional service for an average of approximately 60 hours annually for 5% of duties.

Scholarship (5%)

Participate in negotiating scholarship, research, and/or creative activities with supervisor. Produce annual evidence that scholarship, research, and/or creative activities have been professionally published or shared.

Required Qualifications:

1. Master’s degree in Library Science from an American Library Association accredited program or the foreign equivalent.
2. Minimum of five years of recent, fulltime experience working as a librarian leader in a complex library organization with progressive duties and responsibilities including providing support, services, facilities management, outreach, and collections for undergraduate, graduate, faculty, and local area populations.
3. Demonstrated exceptional written and oral communication skills, as well as presentation, teaching, and interpersonal skills. Ability to communicate appropriately within and outside of the library.
4. Experience working collaboratively with multiple constituencies, including, but not limited to students, instructional faculty, university staff, outside community, vendors, and administrative peers. Ability to function effectively in a team environment.
5. Experience with website maintenance and support, including HTML, CSS, and PHP, such as Omni. Experience with identity and access management services or a proxy server, preferably Open Athens or EZProxy.
6. Experience working in a consortia environment with a shared ILS, preferably ExLibris’s Alma.
7. Experience utilizing collection development and acquisition tools such as GreenGlass and GOBI Familiarity working with demand-driven acquisitions and database trials. Knowledge of collection analysis tools such as GreenGlass.
8. Bibliographic control experience of academic library resources, including monographs, periodicals, serials, databases, data sets, OERs, government documents, scores, and gray literature. Increasingly responsible experiences in the supervision of acquiring/purchasing, cataloging, handling and processing of books, print serials, electronic resources databases and other materials
9. Experience with database maintenance tools such as MarcEdit, OCLC Collection Manager (WCM), SQLite or OpenRefine. Knowledge of non-MARC metadata schema. Working knowledge of AACR2, MARC21, LCSH, RDA, and FRBR.
10. Ability to meet library faculty standards for job performance, scholarship, service, and professional development at the Librarian Associate Professor rank. (see document Guidelines for Appointment, Promotion and Retention of Library Faculty)

Desired Qualifications:

1. An earned Ph.D./Ed.D. or its foreign equivalent
2. Seven or more years of recent, fulltime experience working as a librarian leader in a complex library organization with progressive duties and responsibilities.
3. Academic library experience.
4. Aptitude for detailed work in addition to strong organizational, planning, and time management skills. Experience with annual budget planning, tracking and implementation.
5. Creativity in problem solving and enthusiasm for self-directed study.
6. Experience with demand-driven acquisitions and database trials. Experience with collection analysis tools such as GreenGlass.
7. Awareness of information technologies that affect the creation, access to, and preservation of, scholarly information housed in digital collections.
8. Experience with reporting tools such as Alma Analytics, SAS or Microsoft Access.
9. Experience in working with multicultural and international student groups.
10. Experience working in a shared governance environment.

For more than 50 years, Kennesaw State University has been known for its entrepreneurial spirit and sense of community. Offering campuses in Marietta and Kennesaw, the university is located just north of Atlanta and combines a suburban setting with access to one of the country’s most dynamic cities. As Georgia’s third-largest university, Kennesaw State offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degrees, including a growing number of doctoral programs. Designated by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia as a comprehensive university, Kennesaw State is committed to becoming a world-class academic institution positioned to broaden its academic and research missions and expand its scope on a local, regional and national level.

For a full description of this position, application deadlines, and application procedures, visit https://facultyjobs.kennesaw.edu.

Kennesaw State University, a member of the University System of Georgia, is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, color, disability, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, and/or veteran status.

Georgia is an Open Records state.