Director of the Blough-Weis Library
- Employer
- Susquehanna University
- Location
- Selinsgrove, PA
View more
- Administrative Jobs
- Academic Affairs, Librarians & Library Services
- Institution Type
- Four-Year Institution
Job Details
As a living, learning and working community, Susquehanna University affirms its commitment to being an engaged, culturally inclusive campus. As we seek to embody the rich diversity of the human community, we commit ourselves to the full participation of persons who represent the breadth of human difference. The university encourages candidates from historically underrepresented groups to apply. Susquehanna University is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Susquehanna University is a national liberal arts college committed to excellence in educating students for productive, creative and reflective lives of achievement, leadership and service in a diverse, dynamic and interdependent world. Its more than 2,300 undergraduates come from 35 states and 22 countries, and all students study away through Susquehanna’s unique Global Opportunities program. Susquehanna University’s 325 acre campus, noted for its beauty, is located in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, 50 miles north of Harrisburg in the scenic Susquehanna River Valley, about a three hour drive from Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and New York City. For more information, please visit https://www.susqu.edu.
Position SummaryJob Summary
The Library Director is a visionary and collaborative leader, guiding the organization in a rapidly changing digital literacy environment. The director is responsible for ensuring that the library remains pivotal in the evolving campus experience, while promoting the strategic use of the library’s services and areas to advance the overall mission of the university.
Specific Responsibilities
•Provides visionary leadership in all aspects of library development and leads strategic planning to address institutional goals designed to foster innovation, prioritize initiatives, and manages current resources to ensure continued high-quality services for all stakeholders.
•Collaborates with faculty, students, and administrative colleagues to strategically assess library services; Develops, applies, and reports performance metrics.
•Continually reviews and re-imagines best use of building spaces, such as student use of study spaces, collection needs, patron counts, circulation data, classroom usage, etc. to anticipate and address the changing needs of users.
•Supervises professional librarians and support staff and evaluates performance in accordance with campus policies.
•Responsible for the investigation, selection, and implementation of new technologies and methods of providing services that advance the library’s mission.
•Administers the development of the library’s collections and explores new methods of selecting, acquiring and organizing resources to support the curriculum.
•Effectively allocates available funds, equipment, time and human resources, adjusting operations as needed.
•Fosters cooperative relationships with other libraries and engages in formal arrangements to share resources for the benefit of students and faculty.
•Creates and continues programs and exhibits for students, faculty and the community that support intellectual achievement and promote the library’s services, collections, facilities, and community engagement.
•Maintain professional development via active participation with relevant professional organizations.
Education
MLS or equivalent from an ALA‐accredited Library School required.
Experience
Eight years of progressively responsible academic library experience with leadership responsibilities required.
Knowledge, Skills, Abilities
Knowledge of instructional methods and training techniques including curriculum design principles, learning theory, group and individual teaching techniques, design of individual development plans, and test design principles. Ability to lead an organization through a transparent, inclusive and collaborative strategic visioning process. Understands current and emerging trends and issues and their impact on library services. Knowledge of English language including meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar. Skilled at written and verbal communication, including formal presentation to groups. Ability to set priorities and advocate team concepts; work collaboratively with faculty and staff. Successfully manages significant budgets. Skilled at motivating, mentoring and developing staff to achieve mission success.
Physical Demand
Position requires the ability to stand or sit for extended periods of time. Position requires the ability to move about the campus. Position requires the ability to talk and to hear instruction. Position requires occasional manual dexterity and the ability to use fingers, hands, and arms to feel, handle, and reach. Position requires occasional stooping, crouching and bending. Position requires the ability to occasionally lift up to 10 pounds. Working conditions are indoor.
Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).
- What is your highest degree earned?
- Doctorate Degree
- Masters Degree
- Bachelor Degree
- ABD
- Associate Degree
- Some college courses
- High School Diploma
- GED
- Do you possess the required minimum of eight years of progressively responsible academic library experience with leadership responsibilities?
- Yes, I meet the requirement
- No, I do not meet the requirement
- Resume
- Cover Letter
- Diversity & Inclusion Statement
- Other Additional Documents
Organization
Susquehanna University is a national liberal arts college committed to excellence in educating undergraduate students for productive, creative and reflective lives of achievement, leadership and service in a diverse and interconnected world. Academic excellence, study away and service learning, student-faculty collaboration, and rich opportunities for creative and personal growth are hallmarks of a Susquehanna University education. About 2,200 undergraduates come from 32 states and 15 countries.
The university is located in Selinsgrove, Pa., a town of about 5,000 situated on the banks of the Susquehanna River, 50 miles north of the state capital, Harrisburg. The campus is about 90 minutes from the Pocono Mountain recreational areas, and about a three-hour drive from New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Founded in 1858 by Lutherans, Susquehanna University welcomes individuals of all backgrounds and beliefs. It is a community that expresses its Lutheran heritage through the free and open exploration of ideas, commitment to service and development of individual talents.
Students may enroll in one of two schools: the School of Arts and Sciences or the Sigmund Weis School of Business. A Susquehanna education is distinguished by a strong liberal arts program enhanced by equally strong professional programs in areas such as business, education and communications. Degrees are offered for the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Science.
Susquehanna University is recognized in several guidebooks to selective colleges, including The Fiske Guide to Colleges and Peterson's Competitive Colleges. U.S. News & World Report’s America's Best Colleges includes Susquehanna among National Liberal Arts Colleges. Susquehanna is small enough to be academically flexible, yet large enough to offer a wide variety of choices—more than 50 major emphases, 45 minors and 850 courses. Susquehanna offers a challenging Honors Program for exceptional students and emphasizes experience-based learning, including internships, study-abroad semesters and award-winning community service programs.
Small classes and a student-faculty ratio of about 13 to 1 offer students personal attention and challenging opportunities. Student participation and team learning are encouraged, as is faculty-student research that exposes students to current, practical applications in their field of study. Students are offered extensive opportunities for involvement and leadership in university life. They can choose from more than 100 student organizations, 23 intercollegiate sports, numerous intramural and club sports and a full schedule of lectures, concerts, films, plays and social events.
Susquehanna's strong academic and career advising programs have led to strong post-graduation success. Typically, 94 percent of the graduating class is working full time or enrolled in graduate or professional school within six months.
Diversity Profile: Susquehanna University
Diversity Matters at Susquehanna. Through our commitment to academic excellence, in which diversity is a core element, we affirm the dignity and worth of all persons and strive to ensure that all in our community feel supported in their differences. Current and emerging research underscore the positive educational benefits that manifest in a diverse living and learning community.
As an institution of higher learning, we understand that we will be judged increasingly by how well we prepare our students to succeed in a smaller, flatter and increasingly diverse world. We intentionally seek to create opportunities for understanding the ways that power and privilege influence individual and collective behavior and systems, and to use that knowledge to guide us productively inside the classroom and beyond.
Affirmative Action - Susquehanna University is committed to making every effort to enhance the diversity of our community – students, faculty, and staff. The hiring process is important to achieving our strategic goals to recruit and retain staff from diverse backgrounds. Through the affirmative action process, we work together to ensure a diverse community while remaining diligent in our commitment to selecting the most qualified candidate for open positions.
Applicant Survey Form
Faculty Searches
Admin/Hourly Searches
Diversity Matters at Susquehanna. Through our commitment to academic excellence, in which diversity is a core element, we affirm the dignity and worth of all persons and strive to ensure that all in our community feel supported in their differences. Current and emerging research underscore the positive educational benefits that manifest in a diverse living and learning community.
As an institution of higher learning, we understand that we will be judged increasingly by how well we prepare our students to succeed in a smaller, flatter and increasingly diverse world. We intentionally seek to create opportunities for understanding the ways that power and privilege influence individual and collective behavior and systems, and to use that knowledge to guide us productively inside the classroom and beyond.
In the classroom, on the campus and beyond
We use experiential learning to engage students in a multicultural education that prepares them for life in a diverse and interconnected world. Our new Central Curriculum, taught by a diverse faculty with different viewpoints and experiences, challenges students in their ways of perceiving and knowing the world. The unique Global Opportunities (GO) requirement prompts students to experience ways of knowing and being that are unfamiliar, and to reflect on those experiences. In the process, we expect that all students will examine their world view and how it is constructed.
A diverse and vibrant campus community fosters relationships marked by mutual curiosity and respect. Students, faculty and staff are supported in these relationships by the Chief Diversity Officer, Center for Diversity and Social Justice, Center for Civic Engagement, Office of Residence Life, and the Bias Response and Education Team.
The university also understands its physical and emotional connection to residents of the Susquehanna River Valley. Arts and educational events open to the community create possibilities for healthy dialogue regarding difference. Relationships built through interaction and dialogue with the greater Selinsgrove community serve to broaden and enhance the community in which we live and learn.
Get job alerts
Create a job alert and receive personalized job recommendations straight to your inbox.
Create alert