Community News

Special Collections Cataloging Librarian – Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is now accepting applications for a Special Collections Cataloging Librarian. Reporting to the Head of Special Collections, the Cataloging Librarian is responsible for ensuring the accurate and appropriate bibliographical description of Special Collections material. Specific tasks include cataloging new acquisitions; processing backlogs; reviewing, revising, and updating existing metadata as appropriate; creating and modifying authority records through the Library of Congress Name Authority Cooperative Program; and performing related research. The full posting and application instructions can be found here. For full consideration, please apply by 1 April 2025. […]

Library Services Manager – Rare Books & Special Collections, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

The Library Services Manager – Rare Books & Special Collections (LSM) role at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh will oversee the services, procedures, conservation, organization, and continued development of unique and rare materials. This leadership position is essential to ensuring these valuable resources remain accessible, well-preserved, impactful, and available for the community. The LSM will work closely with a dedicated team to achieve these goals. This position reflects the library’s ongoing commitment to preserving and sharing the library’s most unique and valuable resources. Learn more and apply: https://www.carnegielibrary.org/careers-at-clp/. […]

Call for Applications: Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies Online Courses

After the success of the first two editions of its online courses, the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies (IMEMS) at Durham University is delighted to announce a new run of online Palaeography courses, running from 25 November to 6 December 2024.

• Latin European Medieval Palaeography, run by Dr Manuel Muñoz García
• Early Modern English Palaeography (1500–1700), run by Dr. Arnold Hunt

There are limited spaces (24 students per course). Find full details and application forms on the IMEMS website. The final deadline for applications is 10 November 2024, […]

Call for Proposals: SHARP Conference, “Communities and Values of the Book”

Rochester, New York, will host the 2025 SHARP Conference on July 7–11, 2025, with the theme “Communities and Values of the Book.” This theme encourages participants to examine communities and values, separately or together, and explore their intersections within book culture and bibliographic history. SHARP invite proposals for individual papers, lightning talks, workshops, and fully planned panels. Proposals should think expansively about the theme topics, including voices from marginalized and non-mainstream communities. Abstracts are due by December 1, 2024. For more information, including how to submit an abstract, click here. […]

Preservation & Book Arts Librarian — Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT is hiring a new Preservation & Book Arts Librarian, who will work within the library’s unique collections department to run our book conservation lab. They will be in charge of ensuring the long-term well-being of the library’s general and special collections. They will work to build and maintain an outreach program working with faculty and students to learn about book arts and give hands-on experiences. First review of applications will begin on October 10, 2024. For more information, including how to apply, please click here. […]

Call for Proposals: The Multicultural Middle Ages Podcast

The Multicultural Middle Ages (MMA) podcast series welcomes proposals for single episodes, to be featured in its fourth season in 2025. Sponsored by the Medieval Academy of America, MMA is an anthology-style podcast that welcomes the global turn in Medieval Studies. We invite proposals from individuals and collaborators of all ranks and disciplines, including graduate students, for single podcast episodes aimed at fellow medievalists and the wider public. Please see the call for proposals for more details and submission instructions. The deadline to submit proposals is October 11. […]

Technical Services Librarian — Mount Vernon

George Washington’s Mount Vernon is seeking a new Technical Services Librarian, a full-time, exempt-status position reporting to the Chief Librarian. The Technical Services Librarian will be responsible for cataloging all formats and managing serials in an Integrated Library System, OCLC WorldShare Management Services (OCLC WMS). They will oversee technical services operations related to policies, procedures, workflows, and systems. […]

Head of Special Collections & College Archives — Muhlenberg College

Muhlenberg College is seeking a new Head of Special Collections and College Archives, who will serve as an innovative and collaborative library leader providing strategic direction for the collections, programs, services, and initiatives with the unique collections and college archives of Trexler Library. Primary responsibilities include forging strong collaborations across the campus community to provide a rich array of library instruction, research services, digital scholarship, creative projects, and exhibits. They will oversee and integrate the College Archives, digital scholarship, Special Collections, Rare Books, and local digital collections with the teaching, learning, and community engagement mission of Muhlenberg College. This position will work closely with a talented and resourceful team of librarians, […]

Assistant/Associate Conservator – American Philosophical Society’s Library & Museum

The American Philosophical Society’s Library & Museum seeks to hire an Assistant/Associate Conservator to perform conservation treatment for Library materials, with an emphasis on non-bound materials. The Conservation Department at the American Philosophical Society is responsible for conservation treatment and preventive care of items found in the Society’s diverse special collections library.

This position aids in the preventive conservation of the collections and includes treatment and documentation of individual items such as manuscripts on paper and parchment, printed maps, ephemera, photographic materials, and graphic works on paper. Candidates will be considered at both the Assistant and Associate level, […]

Call for Papers: Primeros Libros de las Américas Project Triennial Symposium

The Primeros Libros de las Américas project, an international collaboration of more than 25 institutional partners throughout Mexico, Spain, Peru, and the United States that seeks to bring together digitally the first books printed in the Americas before 1601, is organizing its triennial symposium, which will take place in person on Friday, October 11, 2024, at the Francisco de Burgoa Library (UABJO), Oaxaca, Mexico.

Scholars who are undertaking research related to book production, trade, and use in the Americas during the sixteenth century are invited to submit presentation proposals. […]

Rare Books Librarian —The Saint Louis University Libraries & Museums

The Saint Louis University Libraries & Museums seek an innovative Rare Books Librarian who will develop our collections, support research, increase campus engagement, and strengthen relationships with donors and stakeholders. Serving in the Distinctive Collections and Digital Services department and supervised by the University Archivist, the Rare Books Librarian will oversee a collection of more than 30,000 rare books with particular strengths in Jesuit and Catholic history, philosophy, exploration and travel, and science and medicine. The Rare Books Librarian will also support Humanities instruction in the Research and Instruction Services department as a subject liaison for one or more subjects, […]

Education and Outreach Librarian for Special Collections — Hamilton College

Hamilton College is currently seeking a Special Collections Education and Outreach Librarian, who will be responsible for promoting, interpreting, and encouraging the use of the Library’s special collections in support of teaching, learning, and research. Responsibilities include supporting the integration of special collections materials into the curriculum by faculty and students; research support for faculty, students, and researchers; and creating finding aids in collaboration with other special collections and archives staff. Desired qualifications include a master’s degree in library science or a related field and previous instructional experience in a college-level or higher setting. To learn more, including how to apply, […]

Conservation & Book Arts Librarian — Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is currently searching for a new Conservation & Book Arts Librarian to oversee the library’s conservation and preservation activities through the managing of the book conservation lab. Additionally, the selected candidate will build upon the existing foundations of working with faculty, classes, and students to create class sessions and learning opportunities related to book construction and other book arts topics. The Conservation & Book Arts Librarian will work within a newly formed Unique Collections department, where they will get to work closely with other collections’ managers that range from special collections, university archives, ethnographic collections, and world music collections.  […]

Traveling Seminar: Afro-Eurasian Origins of Print

The Research and Academic Program of the Clark Art Institute is sponsoring a travelling seminar on the global origins and transmission of print. The seminar will first convene September 18–21, 2024 in Williamstown, MA and in New Haven, CT to explore collections and begin establishing material and conceptual arenas of exploration. In May 2025, the working group will travel to South Korea for a week to visit collections, and final dates will be determined based on participants’ availability for future travel to Munich and Mainz, Germany. For more information, including how to apply, please click here. […]

New Training Program: San Gemini Book & Paper Conservation School

San Gemini Preservation Studies is pleased to announce a new program: the San Gemini Book & Paper Conservation School. Students will be taught the skills necessary to be a professional conservator/restorer of books and documents made with Western paper technology from the sixteenth century to the present. The program is aimed at people wishing to work in rare book libraries, archives, museums, and conservation laboratories. The classes take place from September 2024 to May 2025 in San Gemini, Italy, and all education is to be done in-person, in the English language. […]

Wells Book Arts Summer Institute

What will you make this summer? Explore the lakeside studios of the Wells College Book Arts Center at this year’s Summer Institute. Study with experienced instructors from around the country in close-knit, intensive workshops for bookbinding, letterpress, risograph printing, papermaking, marbling, book making, woodcut, and wood engraving. Summer 2024 workshops take place June 9–15 and June 16–22 in Aurora-on-Cayuga, New York. Discover more online at wellsbookartscenter.org or https://bit.ly/bookarts2024. […]

2024–26 Wells College Art Archivist Fellowship

The Book Art Center and Louis Jefferson Long Library at Wells College in Aurora, N.Y., welcomes applications for the 2024–26 Fellowship in Art Archiving. The Art Archivist Fellowship is intended for a recent graduate from a library, museum, or related program who wishes to pursue collections-based work, and is made possible through the Windgate Foundation. More information and application instructions are available here. Applications will be accepted through March 31 for an anticipated July start date. […]

Cluster of four Curators — Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library, Yale University

The Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscript Library at Yale University invites applications for a cluster of four curators to build, interpret, and steward the library’s extraordinary collections in one or more of the following areas of focus: 1) Indigenous history and culture; 2) European history and culture, pre-1800; 3) Caribbean and/or Black Atlantic World; 3) Medieval studies; 4) U.S. history and culture, especially pre-1900; 5) Ethnicity, race, and migration; 6) Gender and sexuality; 7) History of science; 8) Environmental studies; 9) Visual culture; and 10) Material history. To learn more about this job opening and to apply, please click here. […]

Rare Books Librarian (Assistant Librarian) — J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah

The Division of Special Collections at the University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library seeks a vital contributor to its research, teaching, and collections development missions in the role of Rare Books Librarian. This key position will help guide the strategic direction of Special Collections by acting as the primary caretaker of one of the major rare books collections in Utah and the Intermountain West. An active and visible presence on campus, the Librarian will establish collaboration and teaching opportunities in a wide range of subjects and uses of collection items. Reporting to the Associate Dean of Special Collections, the Rare Books Librarian will participate in setting divisional priorities and developing practices and policies together with the Special Collections leadership team. […]

Library Company of Philadelphia Exhibition: Leaves of Green

Please join the Library Company of Philadelphia for a special exhibition honoring Jim Green’s 38 years of service as Librarian Emeritus at the Library Company. The free exhibition, “Leaves of Green,” begins 8 November and is open to the public Mondays through Fridays. It will highlight some of Jim’s favorite acquisitions made during his time as Curator and Librarian (1983– 2021), as well as his exhibitions, scholarship, and the lasting relationships he formed with collectors and shareholders at the Library Company. As an RBS faculty member, Jim has taught “The History of the Book in Antebellum America,” “Key Moments in the History of the Book in the Antebellum United States,” and “The History of the Book in America, […]

Three-Part Lectures Series: “Cambridge Bookbinding, 1450-1775”

RBS faculty member David Pearson will give three lectures as part of the 2023 Sandars Lectures at Cambridge University next month. Pearson most recently taught the RBS summer course Provenance: Tracing Owners & Collections. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the University of London’s Institute of English Studies. The Sandars Lectures, which are free and open to the public, will be held in person (at Cambridge University’s Robinson College), live-streamed, and recorded. […]

Library Director — The Society of the Cincinnati

The Society of the Cincinnati is seeking a Library Director to join their team in Washington, D.C. Qualifications for the Library Director position include appreciation for the mission of the Society and for early American history; currently serving as a practicing librarian, with a master’s degree in library and information science, or related field, with relevant experience in special collections management; and professional presentation skills and excellent approachability/social skills. […]

The American Trust for the British Library Virtual Event: “Selling Falsehoods: Forgeries in Collecting & Scholarship”

The American Trust for the British Library invites you to the fifth annual David N. Redden Conversation, “Selling Falsehoods: Forgeries in Collecting & Scholarship,” a free virtual program and dialogue. This Zoom event, which is open to the public, will be held on Thursday 26 October at 5:30 p.m. ET. Speakers will include RBS faculty member Nick Wilding and longtime RBS supporter Kenneth W. Rendell, among others. Advanced registration is required here. […]

Moore College of Art & Design Virtual Event: “Artists Books at Fifty: Tony White in Conversation with Dianne Vanderlip”

On Thursday, 12 October at 7:00 p.m. ET, Connelly Library, the Department of Fine Arts, and the Galleries at Moore College of Art & Design will sponsor a free virtual event, “Artists Books at Fifty: Tony White in Conversation with Dianne Vanderlip.” In 1973, Vanderlip curated an exhibition titled Artists Books at Moore College of Art and Design, marking the first use of this pivotal phrase in the contemporary context. […]

Assistant Director, Special Collections Research Center — Syracuse University Libraries

Reporting to the Director of the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC), the SCRC Assistant Director plays an important leadership role in the establishment and implementation of frameworks for responsible stewardship and description of an estimated $250–$500 million worth of Syracuse University’s unique and rare collections held within Special Collections, the Belfer Audio Archive, and University Archives. The Assistant Director supervises librarians, staff, and student workers. This position fosters a flexible, collaborative work environment within the Center and with other units within the Libraries and on campus. The Assistant Director demonstrates a commitment to justice, equity, diversity, inclusion, and reparative archives initiatives that grow and develop the SCRC staff, […]

Head of Special Collections — Wesleyan University

Wesleyan University is seeking a new Head of Special Collections. Wesleyan’s Special Collections is made up of over 45,000 volumes of rare books ranging from medieval manuscript codices and early printed books to 21st-century fine press books. It also maintains a strong collection of over 1,000 artists’ books with one highlight being those on social justice and related issues. It is part of the newly formed Unique Collections department that includes the University Archives, Archaeology & Anthropology Collections, Center for East Asian Studies Art & Archival Collections, and the World Music Archives. Reporting to the Dietrich Family Associate University Librarian for Unique Collections, […]

Special Collections Office Coordinator — Princeton University Library

Princeton University Library Special Collections is seeking an enthusiastic, organized individual with strong collaboration and customer service skills to take on the newly established full-time role of Office Coordinator. Reporting to the Assistant University Librarian for Special Collections Public Services, the Office Coordinator will be a welcoming presence at our front desk and provide day-to-day management of the public spaces in SC Firestone Library as well as office support to several areas of Special Collections. The person in this position will coordinate departmental events in SC Firestone and will be responsible for administering the library research grant program. […]

Curator of Maps and Graphics — Clements Library, University of Michigan in Ann Arbor

The William L. Clements Library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is looking for a full-time Curator of Maps and Graphics. Reporting to the Director of the Clements Library, this position will be responsible for collection development, conservation, and access for maps and graphic arts materials in the Clements collections. Required qualifications include: 1) an M.A. in Art History, American Studies, Media Studies, History, Geography, Literature, or related areas, or an M.L.I.S. from an ALA-accredited library school with 4-plus years of experience working with graphic & map materials; and 2) knowledge of or experience with current practices and standards related to the identification, […]

American Antiquarian Society Lecture: “Caterina Jarboro, the 1898 Wilmington Riot, and the Challenges of the Archive”

The American Antiquarian Society (AAS) invites you to attend a free, hybrid event, “Caterina Jarboro, the 1898 Wilmington Riot, and the Challenges of the Archive,” which will take place both online and in person at AAS’s Antiquarian Hall, on Wednesday 19 July at 7:00 p.m. ET. Admission is free, but registration is required for both virtual and in-person attendance. For more information and to register, click here. […]

Virginia Museum of History & Culture Event: “British Virginia—A Digital Humanities Project”

The Virginia Museum of History & Culture (VMHC) invites you to attend a free, in-person event, “British Virginia—A Digital Humanities Project,” which will take place at the VMHC on Tuesday 25 April at 4:00 p.m. ET. Admission is free, but registration is required. For more information and to register, click here.  […]