With a collection that exceeds 46 million items, and a mission to advance knowledge and inspire lifelong learning, the New York Public Library stands as one of the world’s great public research libraries. The Library seeks a collaborative and service-oriented professional to provide leadership for research services in the Archives, Manuscripts, and Rare Books Division in the Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, which welcomes thousands of special collection researchers each year. The Manager of Public Services is responsible for ensuring the delivery of the highest quality of public service, supervising a team of experienced staff, and collaborating with colleagues on outreach, instruction, and other community-building and promotional activities. 

The Library’s Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division holds over 29,000 linear feet of manuscripts and archives in over 5,500 collections, as well as more than 110,000 rare books and 20,000 broadsides. The collections contain some of the Library’s greatest treasures, ranging from cuneiform tablets, incunabula, and illuminated manuscripts to founding documents of the United States. The collection is particularly strong in books printed in the Americas prior to 1801 and the history of the New York region. Collecting areas of focus include the American Revolution, U.S. Civil War, 19th century U.S. literature, colonial Latin America, New York City social history, the history of publishing, and LGBTQ history. The Division also oversees the Library’s institutional archives and records.

Key Responsibilities

Under the direction of the Associate Director for Archives, Manuscripts and Rare Books, the Manager will:

• Manage staff in the day-to-day public service operations, ensuring consistent, proactive, and effective researcher engagement
• Train and mentor reading room staff in the implementation of best practices in reference and research services
• Provide research and reference assistance to scholarly and general users
• Serve as point person for the effective use of Aeon to manage reading room transactions, ensuring collection security protocols are observed; responsible for preparing divisional usage reports using Aeon dashboard
• Conduct outreach to help grow and diversify the Library’s patron base; cultivate and support networks of relationships among researchers, students, and educators
• Supervise librarians and specialists in the creation of research pathways that highlight collection strengths through the development of LibGuides and blogs
• Support the pedagogical needs of educators by planning, managing, and implementing collections-oriented programming; collaborate on NYPL-wide education initiatives
•  Prepare reports and updates on division activities as needed
• Support the fellowship program by reviewing applications
• Support the exhibition program as needed
•  Engage with the Special Collections Processing and other units on priorities to   increase discovery and access to collections
• Collaborate with Collection Management staff on best practices for collection storage and other collection management initiatives