Director, Pew Learning Center & Ellison Library

Warren Wilson College seeks a collaborative, inventive, and versatile colleague for the position of Director of the Pew Learning Center & Ellison Library. The Pew Learning Center (PLC), housing the library, the Writing Studio, a Sound Lab, a Creative Technologies Lab, a Media Lab, and the College Archives, serves as the intellectual crossroads of a small, residential, liberal arts campus where a dedicated staff, a variety of learning spaces, and diverse physical and digital information resources facilitate learning, spark curiosity, and inspire discovery for our students.

The College’s values of social justice, sustainability, and diversity, equity, and inclusion are woven throughout the PLC’s services and operations and are reflected in the collections we curate. We seek candidates whose commitment to the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion enables them to actively build and maintain relationships within the PLC and across campus as they steer this pivotal campus hub. We seek candidates ready to foster an organizational climate based on respect, responsibility, communication, and professional growth, in which diversity and innovation thrive. We seek candidates who collaborate with colleagues both within and beyond the PLC to expand our innovative services in support of both academic curricula and the College’s distinctive Center for Experiential Learning (Work Program, Community Engagement, and Global Engagement). The director, in collaboration with PLC staff and the wider college community, will articulate and implement a compelling strategic plan for the future of the PLC, rooted in the College’s strategic plan and based on a perceptive and inspirational vision of the future of multi-faceted academic libraries.

This is a full-time (12-month), continuing faculty position in an extended contract system, with an anticipated start date of January 10, 2022.

Interested candidates should submit a cover letter, which includes a discussion of your demonstrated engagement in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a current curriculum vitae. Electronic submission is required. Candidates who apply by 5PM EST on August 16, 2021 will be given first consideration.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Shape and articulate a vision of the library in alignment with the College mission and strategic plan;
• Provide leadership in the development and promotion of the PLC’s programs and activities to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in its services, programming, and collections;
• Provide collegial, collaborative, and transparent leadership, mentoring, and management of library staff;
• Create regular opportunities for librarians for summer study leaves and opportunities for all staff members to develop professionally and thrive;
• Provide guidance for the continued development of the Writing Studio, the Sound Lab, the Creative Technologies Lab, and the College Archives;
• Nurture collaborative working relationships across the College to ensure the Library is responding to and meeting the needs of students and other constituencies;
• Advocate for the library both internally and externally to sustain and expand the library's viability and visibility on campus and in the community;
• Develop and exercise oversight of the library budget, including careful stewardship of library resources;
• Design, lead, and report on the assessment of all aspects of the library’s programs, services, and collections;
• Participate equally with other library staff members in activities such as research support, the library’s user education activities, collection management, populating the digital repository with user-submitted content, and after-hours staffing;
• Strengthen fruitful relationships with ITS (Information Technology Services);
• Engage in effective and responsible management of the PLC facility;
• Maintain currency in all areas of librarianship, with an emphasis on library and information services management;
• Serve as an active member of the College community, assuming service and leadership roles in college governance as appropriate;
• Represent the library externally by participating in consortia, professional organizations, and other library networks.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Masters of Library Science (MLS) or equivalent degree in Library and Information Science from an ALA accredited program;
• Three to five years experience in an academic library or comparable academic setting;
• At least three years experience in a supervisory role
• Demonstrated excellence in management and team development, including mentoring abilities and communication skills;
• Demonstrated ability to foster a collaborative approach to library leadership;
• Demonstrated commitment to and engagement in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI);
• Evidence of excellence in serving students and the library’s various constituencies;
• Demonstrated ability to act as an advocate for the library to a variety of constituencies;
• Demonstrated resourceful problem solving in an organizational context;
• Demonstrated commitment to and knowledge of current and emerging trends and technologies in the library field especially in higher education;
• Demonstrated experience implementing technologies that support digital scholarship;
• A record of professional growth and scholarship in peer-reviewed venues (e.g. publication, professional conferences).

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• More than five years experience in library administrative with progressive supervisory responsibility
• Demonstrated success with strategic planning and project management;
• Demonstrated success with higher education accreditation;
• Demonstrated success with the management of an institutional digital repository;
• Experience with the implementation of integrated library systems (ILS);
• Evidence of integration of the liberal arts tradition of undergraduate education into library work.

Warren Wilson College is committed to a culture of educational access and ensuring that students and employees from a diverse range of identities and experiences will thrive in this community. Warren Wilson College is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.