Career Center

Columbia University Libraries seeks a creative, collaborative, and dynamic leader to serve as the Head of the Gabe M. Wiener Music & Arts Library. The Head of the Library provides strategic direction, leadership, and administrative oversight for the programs and operations of the Library. Reporting to the Director of Humanities & Global Studies, the Head of the Music Library works collaboratively to lead the staff (consisting of a Music Librarian, a Library Assistant and student assistants) in creating a supportive and creative research and learning environment for our communities of faculty, students and researchers. The Librarian fosters meaningful relationships with the Department of Music and other relevant departments, centers, institutes, and programs, and supports productive engagement with current and potential donors. The Librarian in this position will develop research collections, including strategies for expanded digital access to resources, and will oversee the management of physical spaces and collections.

The Head will actively participate in divisional and library-wide committees and initiatives and will represent Columbia Libraries in broader professional forums related to music librarianship and scholarship. 

Responsibilities:

• Provide strategic direction and oversight for the programs and operations of the Music Library. Oversee the daily operations of the Library, including the care and maintenance of physical spaces and collections. Contribute to and cultivate relationships with existing and prospective donors.
• Collaborate with Library staff and CUL colleagues on the planning, development, and implementation of innovative and inclusive programs designed to support research, learning, outreach and student success; Oversee and coordinate services that advance emerging research methods and uses of technologies, including those offered through the Digital Music Lab.
• Maintain effective and proactive liaison and collaborations with faculty and students in the Music Department, the School of the Arts, the Barnard Music program, and other relevant departments, centers, and institutes throughout the University community. 
• Develop and implement innovative strategies for collection building in music in alignment with campus research and learning priorities, while advancing the values of inclusivity and diversity in our collections. Collection responsibilities include budget management and the acquisition of general research materials, analog and digital music and video content, and published digital resources. In collaboration with other distinctive collections repositories at CUL, assess and recommend the acquisition of primary print and digital audio archival collections. Actively participate in collaborative collection development with institutional partners in consortia such as IvyPlus and ReCAP.
• Within CUL, advance projects to preserve and/or digitize Music Library collections, including texts and scores, analog media, and born or delivered-digital archival collections, partnering with digital program, special collections, technical services, and preservation units.
• Foster a respectful, creative, collaborative work environment for all Music Library employees, supporting and cultivating the professional development of staff through mentoring, training and other appropriate activities; actively support staff inclusion in CUL-wide committees and initiatives where appropriate. Evaluate professional staff and advise on the management of the student employee budget.
• Actively participate in local, national and international professional music library forums to represent Columbia Libraries and advance the mission and work of the Library and to engage in ongoing professional learning and growth.

About Columbia University Libraries

We encourage individuals of diverse backgrounds, cultures, experiences, identities, and abilities to apply for this exceptional opportunity to join an 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 from 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, or underserved populations and communities. As a workplace, 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.

Proposed start date is negotiable. 

Learn more about the Columbia University Libraries

Minimum Qualifications

• MLS or other advanced degree in a related field and experience in libraries, museums, archives, or other cultural heritage research centers.
• Demonstrated ability to work well with others in a highly collaborative and diverse work environment.
• Demonstrated excellent written and oral communication skills
• Familiarity with publishing and research trends in the fields of music and related subject areas

Preferred Qualifications:

• Subject degree or advanced study of music
• Experience with developing music research collections
• Experience with teaching, outreach and user engagement
• Demonstrated management skills and creative problem solving ability

Salary Range:  $82,030 - $96,500

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Pay Transparency Disclosure

The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training.  The above hiring range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

About Columbia University

Columbia University is one of the world's most important centers of research and at the same time a distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in many scholarly and professional fields. The University recognizes the importance of its location in New York City and seeks to link its research and teaching to the vast resources of a great metropolis. It seeks to attract a diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many countries and regions. It expects all areas of the university to advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.

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