Associate Director, Collections, Research & Education, Beinecke Library

The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library seeks an inspiring and collaborative leader to serve as its Associate Director of Collections, Research, and Education. Reporting to the Director of Collections, Research, and Education, this position reflects the Beinecke Library’s ongoing commitment to an ambitious collecting agenda that foregrounds diverse perspectives and historical voices, upholds the highest ethical and professional standards, and thoughtfully engages with the complex nature of building research collections today.  In 2021, Yale University Library initiated the coordinated stewardship of its special collections with the appointment of Michelle Light as Associate University Librarian for Special Collections and Director of the Beinecke Library. In this generative environment, the Associate Director of Collections, Research, and Education will help chart the course of collection development across special collections, provide leadership to a talented team of curators and subject specialists, enable the library to incorporate an understanding of the total cost of acquisition into collecting decisions, and leverage their expertise in evolving humanities research methodologies for the library’s collecting goals. The Associate Director must possess broad intellectual curiosity, strategic vision, managerial and financial expertise, and the ability to develop productive partnerships with curators, faculty, and library professionals.

Essential Duties

1. Inspire, guide and direct the Beinecke Library’s curatorial staff. The Associate Director will be empowered and expected to develop a curatorial team and provide sustaining leadership so that the curators can do their best work. Curators are essential to myriad aspects the Beinecke Library. They are the subject experts for Yale’s special collections and are charged with the thoughtful and intentional growth of the collections. They serve as a resource to researchers and educators who make effective use of the collections, and they offer original insights into the collections and their enduring relevance for diverse audiences through exhibitions, programming, publications, and teaching. The Associate Director will be an advocate for the curatorial perspective within the special collections ecosystem and will be responsible for goal setting, managing workloads, and conducting job performance evaluations. 

2. Advance a compelling vision for collection development. Working in close collaboration with the Director, the Associate Director will provide coordinated leadership for the acquisition of special collections materials. They will develop mechanisms to assess and analyze the quality of acquisition proposals in relation to existing collection strengths, gaps, and areas of strategic growth. They will be fundamental to ensuring that the library’s vast and diverse special collections continue to advance the intellectual life of the university and distinguish Yale as a pre-eminent site for research globally.

3. Uphold best practices for ethical and sustainable collection development. The Associate Director will work closely with Beinecke curators; the Director of Collections, Research and Education; Yale University Library’s collection development librarians; Yale’s Office of General Counsel; and the Provost’s Committee on Provenance to ensure the Beinecke Library’s alignment with the Yale Library’s Collection Development Philosophy and Yale University’s Permanent Collections of Cultural Property Policy. They will be responsible for developing documentation and workflows that ensure common collection development processes across special collections. They will work closely with the Library Business Office to develop budget projections and ensure the effective management of multiple endowed funds with a variety of foci and restrictions.

4. Serve as a member of the department’s leadership team and stand in for the Director as needed. Along with the Education Program Director, Fellowship Program Director, Fortunoff Director, and the Exhibitions and Publications Manager, the Associate Director of Collections, Research, and Education will serve as a member of the departmental leadership team, providing a voice for curatorial staff in strategic and operational planning.

5. Build strategic relationships on campus and beyond. The Associate Director must build and sustain robust relationships with local and international research communities, the rare book and archives trade, and library and museum colleagues. They will be expected to demonstrate professional leadership and commitment in appropriate regional, national, and/or international professional organizations. The Associate Director may serve on special projects relating to the overall needs of the library and its internal and external stakeholders.

Required Education and Experience

Post-graduate degree in the humanities or a master’s degree in library or information science, and five years of progressively responsible experience, two of which should be in a supervisory leadership role in an academic or research library or similar institution, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. 

Required Skills

Demonstrated ability to provide leadership and direction in a research library that comes from an understanding of current trends in special collections librarianship. Demonstrated ability with and appreciation of curatorial work. Demonstrated ability and record of distinction in collection development decision-making.

Demonstrated ability with dealer/donor relations, establishing fair price & market value, understanding the total cost of acquisition, drafting deeds of gift & purchase agreements, keeping abreast of evolving legal/ethical considerations for provenance, international export guidelines, intellectual property rights, privacy concerns, & cultural competencies.

Demonstrated ability with managing restricted funds and endowed funds. Demonstrated ability to design and manage budgets and projects, bringing them to conclusion in a successful manner.

Superb analytical, creative, and communication skills in both writing and public speaking. This may be demonstrated through teaching, publications, exhibitions, public programming, or collaborative projects. Excellent collaborator with ability to foster organizational collegiality and impart empathy, humility, and a positive outlook in their work.

Demonstrated ability working in an archive, library, museum, or other cultural heritage institution that demonstrates understanding of the lifecycle of historical materials and the importance enduring stewardship.   

Preferred Education, Experience and Skills

Knowledge of archival theory, practice, and technologies, including in relation to born digital material. Experience caring for or managing collections in an archives, library, museum, or related setting. Proficiency using library or museum discovery and documentation systems.