Job Description:

Reporting to the Head of Reference, Outreach, & Instruction (ROI) in Healey Library, and working closely with colleagues in ROI, the Head of Collections and other library units, the Liaison Librarian provides in-depth library research and instructional support at the University of Massachusetts Boston. This full-time position will collaborate with colleagues in the library and across campus to instruct, engage and support the nearly 17,000 students, and 1,100 faculty in the full range of library resources and services, on and off campus. Healey Library is restarting and revitalizing its Liaison Librarian program, whereby each librarian in the unit will teach information literacy sessions and workshops in General Education, but each will also have subject specialty areas on which they will focus for other workshops, and will also contribute to Collections activities, such as communicating faculty suggestions to the Head of Collections, sharing in review and trials of databases, and related activities. 

The successful candidate will be a creative, proactive, and innovative individual who engages and collaborates with our unique and diverse campus community in working with the information resources needed for student success, teaching, and research. The capacity for working enthusiastically, flexibly, and creatively in a user-centered environment is essential, along with demonstrable teaching experience, both synchronous and asynchronous, that reflects commitment to student success in an active learning environment.

The Liaison Librarian works collaboratively as part of the ROI team to reimagine and redesign library instruction sessions so that the focus is always on inquiry-guided active learning, student engagement, and student-centered pedagogy. This process may happen in one-on-one meetings, team meetings to workshop upcoming library instruction sessions, or independently. The incumbent actively participates in the creation of a library of reusable lesson plans, learning objects, and assessments, all built around programmatic information literacy goals, so that these transformative pedagogies and practices may be easily reworked and reused for many different teaching and learning situations. The incumbent will also work closely with other Liaison Librarians and the Head of Collections to review database and journal requests, help evaluate resource trials, and related activities. The incumbent will possess demonstrable ability to work independently and collaboratively with people of diverse backgrounds, knowledge of the research process and familiarity with a wide range of educational technologies and productivity software; excellent interpersonal skills; verbal and written communication skills and demonstrable organizational and time management skills.

The individual will explore new ways of engaging library users and will advocate and provide leadership and vision to improve awareness and reach out effectively to the college and campus community. The successful candidate provides excellent customer service; provides reference and research support both in-person and through virtual reference initiatives; thinks critically in analyzing problems and developing resourceful solutions; is able to manage a complex workload; and can prioritize tasks and complete work on time with minimum supervision.

Duties:

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• Develops and conducts in-person, online, synchronous, and asynchronous information literacy instruction sessions aligned with ACRL guidelines, standards, and frameworks, LEAP initiative and AAC&U VALUE rubrics.
• Develops integrated assessments for lesson plans and uses assessment data to inform continuous improvements in products and practice.
• Develops online and print research and instructional materials; lectures, workshops, web-based tutorials and pre-recorded sessions; integrating educational technologies.
• Provides reference and research support virtually and in person.
• Collaborates with faculty, staff, and students to encourage integration of information literacy instruction and assessments into UMB curricula.
• Provides a minimum of 1 hour/week of reference coverage for network-based 24/7 real time chat reference services, using such platforms as LibAnswers, a shared library reference email account, and other platforms or channels.
• Participates in outreach and programming to engage students, faculty, staff, and outside stakeholders.
• Advocates for information literacy across campus and its application to teaching, learning, academic libraries, and higher education.
• Collaborates with others as needed to develop innovative approaches to reference services and teaching.
• Communicates with faculty and students to keep them abreast of changes in library resources.
• Supports faculty in locating Open Educational Resources (OERs) in their disciplines, and matching them to their needs, and provides consultation and guidance to instructors engaged in adopting, adapting, or creating OERs at U Mass Boston.
• Serves as library liaison to multiple college departments and programs, as assigned through the Healey Library Liaison Program and based on experience.
• Works with other Liaison Librarians, the Head of Reference, Outreach, & Instruction, and the Head of Collections to participate in collections-related meetings, review and assess collections, conduct database trials, communicate faculty collections requests, and related activities.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

Required:

• Master's degree in library or information science from an ALA- accredited program or equivalent.
• Related academic library experience associated with information literacy instruction, reference, and research support.
• Experience in creating online learning objects, including tutorials, instructional materials and research guides.
• Demonstrated expertise in creating and delivering engaging and effective lesson plans for instruction sessions.
• Demonstrated expertise in conducting reference consultations and familiarity with academic research reference sources: databases, integrated library systems, and research tools.
• Capacity for working enthusiastically, flexibly, and creatively in a student- centered environment.
• Demonstrated ability to work and communicate effectively and inclusively with a diverse population of faculty, staff and students.
• Familiarity with current trends in academic library information systems and higher education.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; verbal and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated organizational and time management skills.
• Competency with wide range of educational technologies and productivity software as well as Microsoft Office Suite.

Preferred:

• Classroom teaching experience.
• Experience with evaluation and review of databases, journals, and other collections.
• Subject specialization in one or more academic disciplines.
• Experience with educational technologies and their applications in academic libraries.
• Experience with course and learning management systems, such as Blackboard, Moodle, or Canvas.
• Experience with outreach and marketing services to students and faculty.

This position may be hired at the Librarian I, II, or III range, depending on the qualifications and experience of the successful applicant.  To view the current contract governing Faculty & Librarians, please see 2020-2023_FSU_Agreement_FINAL_SIGNED_VERSION_5.15.22.pdf (umb.edu).  Salary floors are listed on p. 82 of the contract, and are $54,000 for Librarian I, $60,500 for Librarian II, and $68,500 for Librarian III.

Application instructions:

Please apply online with your resume, cover letter and list of three professional references.

Position is open until filled.

UMass Boston is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, we will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations for the hiring process. If reasonable accommodation is needed, please contact HRDirect@umb.edu or 617-287-5150.