About the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research was founded in Vilna, Poland, in 1925. It relocated to New York City in 1940 with the mission to study the history of Jewish life in Eastern Europe in all its aspects: language, history, religion, folkways, and material culture. Today YIVO’s Archive and Library make up one of the largest collections of materials on this subject in the world. It has an archive of over 24 million artifacts and a library with over 400,000 volumes.

About the YIVO Archives

The purpose of the YIVO Archives is to identify, acquire, preserve, and make accessible historically significant documents and other materials which reflect the Archives’ origins and development and enhance the Archives’ unique areas of expertise in documenting Jewish life. The YIVO Archives contains 24 million records. The 2,500 collections that make up the YIVO Archives include manuscripts, letters, printed ephemera, sheet music, posters, artworks and artifacts, photographs, film and videos, and sound recordings. These collections, which together represent the single largest and most comprehensive repository of materials on East European Jewish civilization in the world, focus on a number of important areas including Jewish history, language, literature, and culture in Eastern Europe; World War II and the Holocaust; Jewish educational, political, and labor organizations; and Jewish immigration to the United States, Israel, and other countries in the Diaspora.

Position Summary

The Reference and Outreach Archivist will be responsible for connecting the public with YIVO’s extensive collection.

This is an in-person position.

Responsibilities

• Manage reference requests made via email, Zoom reference appointments, and phone calls.
• Manage requests for reference photographs of archive and library material.
• Increase the usability and discoverability of YIVO archives materials by creating research guides and finding aids.
• Work with YIVO’s public programming and education departments to integrate archival material and instruction into YIVO’s outreach efforts.
• Maintain use statistics for reference services, materials accessed via the reading room, and digitized material accessed via YIVO’s digital assets management system.
• Page material to the reading room.

Required Qualifications

• MLIS or equivalent.
• Proficiency in Yiddish.
• Background in history or Jewish studies.
• 2+ years of experience providing reference services in an archive or research library setting.
• Ability to work effectively with a diverse public with varying levels of archival literacy.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficiency in Hebrew and/or a European language.
• Undergraduate or Graduate degree in Jewish history or Jewish studies.

Compensation

Salary commensurate with experience. YIVO offers a comprehensive benefits package and excellent professional development and continuing education opportunities.

This is an in-person position.

To Apply

To apply, please email cover letter and resume addressing the requirements of the position to Debbie Calise, Executive Administrator, dcalise@yivo.org. Please include the title of the job you are applying for in the subject heading of the email.

Submit specified application materials to dcalise@yivo.org.