Vice Provost for University Libraries, University Librarian

Salary:

Negotiable
ANNUAL (12 months)

Job Summary:

The University of Wisconsin-Madison invites nominations and applications for the position of Vice Provost for University Libraries, University Librarian (VPL). Reporting to the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the VPL provides vision, leadership, and direction for the UW-Madison Libraries. The VPL must be a collaborative, dynamic leader with proven strength for developing and implementing strategic programs and initiatives to advance the Libraries' agenda in the intellectual life of the University.

Founded in 1848, UW-Madison is the flagship institution within the University of Wisconsin System, and a major land-grant research university committed to excellence in research, teaching, and public service. It consistently ranks among the world's top research universities. The institution manages revenues of over $3 billion annually, has a student body of approximately 49,000 representing 116 countries, and has more than 24,000 employees, including about 2,200 faculty and 12,500 staff, plus 5,000 graduate assistants and 7,000 student employees.

The UW-Madison Libraries reflect the breadth and comprehensiveness of the University's highly-ranked schools, colleges, departments, divisions, centers, and institutes, and are highly valued partners in teaching, learning, research, and scholarship. The Libraries leverage international, national, and state partnerships to deliver extraordinary services and programs to support the university's research enterprise.

As part of an institution that is a member of the Big Ten Academic Alliance, the UW-Madison Libraries are also a founding member of and active participants in the Center for Research Libraries, the Association of Research Libraries, the Coalition for Networked Information, and the HathiTrust Digital Library, among other prestigious higher education organizations.

The General Library System (GLS) currently administers twelve libraries: Memorial Library is the flagship library and caters to the humanities and social sciences, along with the Business Library and Social Work Library. College Library serves as the undergraduate library, and is a hub for programs focusing on student support services and partnerships. The Science and Engineering Libraries (SEL) consist of Steenbock, Chemistry, Geology, and Astronomy, Math, and Physics (AMP). The Special Collections and Archives unit features one of the nation's leading special collections for the history of science and medicine, including significant holdings for chemistry, science and religion, and optics and ophthalmology. Other special collections include the Mills Music Library, the Kohler Art Library, and the Gender and Women's Studies Library. The University Archives serves as the official repository for all UW-Madison, UW-System Administration, UW-Extension, and Wisconsin Public Media records appraised to have permanent or archival value. The health sciences library, law library, and education library each report to their respective deans, while several other special purpose libraries report through various schools, colleges, or departments. The Wisconsin Historical Society Library and State Archives is an important campus partner, and serves as UW-Madison's North American history library, providing the University and the State with access to one of the nation's finest North American history collections. All the compass libraries collaborate via the Library Coordinating Council (LCC) that ensures coordination and collaboration.

UW-Madison boasts one of the nation's most acclaimed common read programs, Go Big Read (GBR). Managed by the Libraries on behalf of the Chancellor, the GBR program has attracted some of the most notable authors and speakers, with a high rate of titles being integrated across campus curricula.

The GLS provides policy leadership, technical infrastructure, support for collections and acquisitions, and coordination of campus and some UW System library services. The GLS has a budget of more than $35.7 million with approximately $11.5 million dedicated to collections. The overall campus Libraries' collection budget is $17 million. The GLS has approximately 210 full-time employees and its collections include more than 11 million volumes. The UW-Madison Libraries rank in the top tier in resource sharing, interlibrary loan, article delivery services, and in-library usage of library resources and facilities. The Libraries have the second-most visited website on campus, behind only the main UW-Madison page (library.wisc.edu).

UW-Madison Libraries are engaged in implementing a major facilities master plan that informs campus planning and decisions about future library spaces and services. Significant efforts are underway to transform the Libraries' physical spaces to support evolving needs around teaching, learning, research, and scholarship. These efforts include the current $36 million building project that the campus has designated for a preservation-quality addition to the offsite shelving facility.

In keeping with the Libraries' commitment to diversity and inclusion, the Libraries are dedicated to the practices of social justice, diversity, equality, and respect among staff, students, collections, and services. The Libraries strive to overcome historical and divisive biases in society and embrace diverse points of view as assets to the fabric of the campus community. All positions are called on to contribute to building this environment.

The Vice Provost is responsible for ensuring that the Libraries are invaluable partners in the educational mission of the University and that they provide high-quality services and programs that catalyze teaching, learning, research, and scholarship. The Vice Provost works to leverage and increase the Libraries' financial resources. The Vice Provost leads a high-performing workforce, and recruits and cultivates organizational talent that aligns with the rapidly changing roles of libraries. The Vice Provost must develop and facilitate strategic priorities and needs; attend to and advance diversity, equity, inclusion, access, and belonging; ensure the Libraries' physical spaces support evolving needs around teaching, learning, research, and scholarship; develop and enhance access to relevant, distinct, and engaging content and collections; and develop and engage in campus, regional, national, and international partnerships to develop economies of scale to better support the mission of the University and the Libraries.

Responsibilities: Directs all academic libraries and is responsible for the strategic vision of the university library, aligning with the goals and strategic vision of the university. Serves as the leader of the university library leadership team, advocates and represents the university library system internally and externally, and makes the final decision with regard to all policies, procedures, and initiatives for the university library system.

• 20% Plans and directs programs and policies for the university library system, directs strategic organizational development, and provides administrative guidance that supports strategic planning and implementation of all policies, procedures, and major initiatives
• 25% Represents the library in all public relations, internally and externally, and is responsible for building support. Ensures engagement in the academic life of the institution, working with university leadership and academic departments
• 20% Develops and plans new programs and policies to meet current and long-range research and instructional needs. Ensures that the university library runs smoothly, working closely with other executive library leaders and university leadership
• 20% Provides leadership and continuity for all organizational change efforts. Encourages, supervises, and facilitates meaningful innovation
• 10% Exercises supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees
• 5% Monitors the unit budget and approves unit expenditures

Tasks:

• Leads and administers libraries within the General Library System.
• Provides clear vision and leadership for developing and implementing strategic programs and initiatives to sustain and enhance the role of libraries in the intellectual life of the university and effectively communicating the vision to campus.
• Leads development and coordination of libraries campus-wide and policy direction for collections, personnel, budget, public services, technical services, technology and data strategies.
• Leads scholarly communications, facilities planning, organizational accountability, fiscal management, and advancing the application of information technology in a large library system.
• Works closely with library staff and academic departments to facilitate transformation of library spaces in support of evolving needs around teaching, learning, research, and scholarship, including repurposing space and redeploying staff expertise.
• Seeks effective strategic campus partnerships to enhance support for teaching, learning, research, and scholarship.
• Works with campus leadership, stakeholders, campus governance, and GLS staff to create clear strategic plans and a vision to address the rapidly changing environment for university libraries.
• Leads the planning and implementation of change management initiatives and programs to ensure the continued growth, development, and excellence of the General Library System.
• Leads the GLS Executive Team and the campus Library Coordinating Council in developing a comprehensive, strategic vision and framework that ensures the alignment of library services and programs with campus mission and priorities.
• Collaborates with AULs and senior managers to align resources in support of the Libraries' strategic directions.
• Works to increase the Libraries' financial support from internal and external sources and leverages and aligns those resources to facilitate strategic priorities and needs.
• Works closely with the Provost, University Communications, and the Libraries Associate Director of Communications to effectively communicate the alignment of the Libraries' goals and programs with the mission of the University.
• Works with the UW Foundation and Alumni Association, the Friends of the UW-Madison Libraries, and the Libraries' development director to develop and pursue philanthropic fundraising and planned giving opportunities.
• Holds overall financial responsibility and spending authority for gifts and endowments on behalf of the Libraries.
• Builds strong partnerships and alliances to advance the Libraries' agenda.
• Promotes and advocates for diversity and inclusion in the Libraries' workforce and in its policies and practices.
• Develops and engages in campus, regional, national, and international partnerships to develop economies of scale that facilitate scholarship and better support the mission of the University and Libraries.
• Keeps abreast of developments in the organizational management and best practices in librarianship and the administration of large academic research libraries.
• Stays current with developments in public services, advancement, collaborative projects, and information technology, including digital libraries, and print and electronic collections, scholarly communications, and open access publishing.
• Participates in committees, conferences, and organizations concerned with librarianship and technology at campus, community, state, national, and international levels as a thought leader in the profession.
• Works to cultivate staff skills and roles that align with the rapidly changing roles libraries play in supporting teaching, learning, research, and scholarship.

Institutional Statement on Diversity:

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

For more information on diversity and inclusion on campus, please visit: Diversity and Inclusion

Education:

Required
Master's Degree
An MLS from an ALA-accredited institution (or commensurate degree and experience) is required.

Qualifications:

Required:
-Candidates for the VPL position will be experienced leaders and visionaries who understand the evolving role of research libraries at a dynamic R1 institution.

The ideal candidate will possess many, if not all, of the following professional expertise, leadership competencies, and personal qualities:

-Outstanding leadership abilities, including strategic visioning, and an understanding of organizational structures and shared governance.
-A record of successfully leading and implementing organizational transformation to align with institutional needs.
-A record of institutional citizenship, connecting the library to larger institutional priorities, goals, and needs.
-A proven record of developing strong partnerships.
-The ability to advocate for and administer resources needed to provide exemplary services and programs in support of the University's mission.
-Significant fiscal management experience to plan for both the short and long-term needs of the Libraries.
-A strong commitment to advancing library information technology, including the ability to plan for and fund appropriate infrastructures.
-Deep understanding of the higher education landscape and the multifaceted role of university library systems and their partners with the academic library ecosystem.
-Proven experience managing programs, budgets, and staff in a complex research library environment.
-Experience in case-making and storytelling; direct or analogous experience and success in fundraising.
-Ability to build and leverage partnerships and collaborations with various units and organizations, on campus and beyond. Engagement with leadership in the field.
-Concrete experience in fostering and supporting programs that address and enhance equity, inclusion, and diversity and a commitment to cultivating a culture where all employees feel welcomed and supported.
-Exceptional interpersonal communication and presentation skills, including the ability to engage the university community and external stakeholders broadly.
-Experience recruiting, developing, and retaining a skilled and diverse staff.
-Demonstrated record of capacity building and of commitment to professional mentorship and growth.
-Understanding of and experience enhancing a healthy organizational culture.

Work Type:

Full Time: 100%

This position may require some work to be performed in-person, onsite, at a designated campus work location. Some work may be performed remotely, at an offsite, non-campus work location.

Appointment Type, Duration:

Ongoing/Renewable

Additional Information:

Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e., a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without the need of employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment.

How to Apply:

The review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. To ensure consideration, applications must be received by August 15, 2023.

Candidates should submit a letter of application, curriculum vitae, and a list of references electronically to: https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/university-wisconsin-madison/vice-provost-and-university-librarian .

Important information regarding confidentiality: Unless confidentiality is requested in writing, UW-Madison is required by Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7) to release the names of all applicants to anyone who requests that information. If you would like to request confidentiality, please indicate that in an email to Christina Errico ( cerrico@imsearch.com ). Candidates who advance to the finalist round are announced publicly prior to their campus visits.

Please visit https://apps.diversity.wisc.edu/questionnaire.aspx to complete voluntary self-identification information. PVL #280821

Contact:

Melissa Ortiz
maortiz2@wisc.edu
Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. See RELAY_SERVICE for further information.

Official Title:

University Librarian (Inst)(LM026)

Department(s):

A49-GENERAL LIBRARY/ADMIN/DIR OFFICE

Employment Class:

Limited

Job Number:

280821-LI

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence through diversity and encourage all qualified individuals to apply.

If you need to request an accommodation because of a disability, you can find information about how to make a request at the following website: https://employeedisabilities.wisc.edu/disability-accommodation-information-for-applicants/

Employment will require a criminal background check. It will also require you and your references to answer questions regarding sexual violence and sexual harassment.

The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7).

The Annual Security and Fire Safety Report contains current campus safety and disciplinary policies, crime statistics for the previous 3 calendar years, and on-campus student housing fire safety policies and fire statistics for the previous 3 calendar years. UW-Madison will provide a paper copy upon request; please contact the University of Wisconsin Police Department .