Reporting to the Director, Access Services, the Head, User Services is an integral part of operations within Butler Library and has a collaborative role in the direction of user services across all Columbia University Libraries. The role oversees three primary areas within Access Services: Circulation, Course Reserves, and the Library Information Office. The Head, User Services will frequently collaborate with the Director, Access Services; the Head, Delivery Services; and peers in branch libraries in pursuit of purposeful and welcoming access services practices.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaboration across all access services and collections strategies units in the Libraries.
• Manage and oversee day-to-day operations of the User Services department (Library Information Office; Course Reserves; Circulation) including staff development, workflow analysis, goal-setting, strategic planning, assessment, generation and analysis of reports, and policy documentation.
• Standardize, document, and continually review student training practices. Monitor student employment budget. Oversee and delegate the recruitment, hiring, scheduling, and training of student employees. Serve as liaison between User Services and HR/Finance.
• Identify, recommend, implement, and evaluate new technologies, policies, workflows, and departmental initiatives within the Library Information Office, Course Reserves, and Circulation portfolio.
• Lead or participate in committees, including but not limited to Access Services Planning and Strategy Committee; Access Services Operations Coordinating Committee; and Columbia Unified Discovery. Represent Access Services in various consortial meetings.
• Maintain active relationships with Libraries partners, including Library Information Technology Office; Humanities & Global Studies; Science Engineering Social Sciences Libraries; and Digital Scholarship.
• Serve as liaison to Disability Services, Campus Safety, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and other campus departments as assigned. Manage reservations for and administer access to Butler Library lockers and study carrels. 
• Participate in and pursue professional development opportunities. Remain up-to-date on current practices within the field.
• Ensure a welcoming environment for all library users, including students, staff, faculty, alumni, and visiting researchers and scholars.

About Columbia University Libraries

We encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, identities, and abilities to apply for this unique opportunity to become a part of our evolving Libraries and University community. Columbia University Libraries is a globally-recognized academic research library system, serving one of the world’s most important centers of research and learning in the most exciting and dynamic city in the world. Talented Libraries staff build, sustain, and make discoverable collections that transcend traditional boundaries of format and domain, keeping pace with a dynamic and rapidly evolving information environment and creating opportunities for users to encounter 4,000 years of human thought.

Our decisions are informed by new curricula developed to meet the needs of a more diverse student body, new and emerging areas of research being conducted by a broad spectrum of researchers, including graduate students and newly-hired faculty, as well as by perspectives from the diminished or entirely lost voices of historically oppressed, marginalized, and underserved populations and communities. As an organization, the Libraries provides a supportive, connected environment where every employee’s perspective is valued and every employee is encouraged to grow. All staff members have an impact on Columbia’s mission to advance knowledge at the highest levels and make the results of research accessible to the world.

Columbia University has a longstanding commitment to diversity rooted in values of inclusion and social justice, a commitment reflected in the curriculum and throughout University life. Columbia welcomes applications from candidates who share these values and who will foster their contribution to the University’s educational mission. We invite applicants who have demonstrated creative approaches to empowering and mentoring staff, leading projects, solving problems, and developing user-centric programs, services, or collections. We offer salary and benefits commensurate with qualifications and experience.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master of Library Science or other advanced degree in a related field, with relevant experience in libraries, museums, archives, or other cultural heritage research centers
• Experience working in an academic library setting
• Supervisory experience, preferably supervision of full-time staff, including goal setting and assessment
• Experience assessing workflows and services related to circulation, course reserves, and public-facing service points
• Experience with front-line library services
• Excellent written and verbal communication habits
• Experience with at least one integrated library system

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with organized labor unions
• Experience with project management
• Familiarity with data collection, processing, and analysis
• Understanding of and experience working with diverse communities of people
• Experience working at a large research university
• Knowledge of shared lending practices and library consortia

Learn More in an Online Information Session

We are hosting an anonymized information session for prospective applicants. We welcome you to join the session to learn more about the Columbia University Libraries, meet the Director of Access Services, and the Director, HR and ask questions you may have. Attendance and questions will be confidential, as the participant list for the Zoom Webinar session will be hidden. Please note that attendance is not required to apply or be considered for a position. Registration is required to join the online information session.

Register to join our Online Information Session:

December 6, 2023 12-12:45pm EST -  CUL Access Services Information Session 12/6/2023 12:00pm-12:45pm EST

This position is being hired for at the same time as one other position in the Access Services unit, the ‘Head, Collections Maintenance’.  Applicants are encouraged to explore the job postings and may apply to both positions.

This position may have the option to operate partially remotely and requires residency within a commutable distance.

The initial review of applications is expected to begin in January 2024. Applications will be considered until the position is filled.

Apply online here