Position Function:

Mississippi State University seeks a dynamic and innovative leader for the Archives & Special Collections division of the Mississippi State University Libraries, which is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, inclusive, and patron-centered environment.

The Archives & Special Collections division includes faculty, professional staff, support staff, and student workers housed within several departments as follows:

•Rare Books and Mississippiana, which encompasses a print collection composed of approximately 55,000 volumes dating from the 15th through the late 20th centuries; 19th and 20th century maps of Mississippi and the Deep South region; and 19th and 20th century newspapers on microfilm for the entire state of Mississippi.

•Manuscripts Division, composed of over 800 manuscript collections documenting the history of Mississippi and the Deep South with emphasis on 20th century Mississippi architecture; Mississippi journalism; war and conflict in the 18th-20th centuries; Black history from the 18th century to the present; Civil Rights, including both segregationists and de-segregationists; literary manuscripts (including a special donor relationship with John Grisham); history of science, technology and medicine; and historic costumes and textiles.

•University Archives, which serves as the official archival repository for the University and documents all areas of campus including the Mississippi State University Cooperative Extension Service from 1878 to the present

•Congressional and Political Research Center (CPRC) which holds over eighty collections, making up over 7,600 cubic feet of materials, including the papers of Senator John C. Stennis and Congressman G. V. “Sonny” Montgomery, documenting Mississippi politics and the lives and careers of Mississippi’s elected officials on the state, local, and national level.

•The Charles H. Templeton, Sr., Music Museum, which showcases a significant collection of antique music machines and over 30,000 pieces of Ragtime-era sheet music.

•Cultural Development and Outreach Unit, which is charged with developing exhibits and programming, serving as the director of the Southern Literary Trail, and promoting the library’s cultural assets through outreach to various organizations and institutions.

•The Digital Preservation and Access Unit (DPAU) digitizes and makes accessible files of historical and cultural materials and born-digital collections from MSU Library’s special collections. With collaboration from all Special Collections departments, DPAU organizes and manages the Digital Collections in Digital Commons (powered by Bepress). Providing technical support to digital exhibits in Omeka is also under DPAU’s purview. To that end, DPAU collaborates with Systems, Digital Initiatives and Web Services, and Cataloging to provide file storage, technical support, and web visibility and searchability to Digital Collections.

Acquisitions in all divisions are active and ongoing.

The new Associate Dean for Archives & Special Collections will report directly to the Dean of Libraries and will be a member of the library’s faculty. The Associate Dean for Archives & Special Collections will provide vision, strategic leadership, and administrative support for the division’s operations including collection development and management; outreach, including reference and instruction; collaborative development of digitization initiatives and projects; cultivation of donor relations; budget management; workflow coordination and human resources management; and operational management of the division’s physical facilities.

Department Profile:

The University Libraries provide their communities of users an ongoing, creative and technologically advanced program.

Area of Specialization:

Archives & Special Collections Division

Anticipated Appointment Date:

June 1, 2022

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Participating in administrative and strategic planning for the MSU Libraries as part of the Library Dean’s Council and Library Administrative Committee.

• Directly supervising the faculty and professional staff leading individual departments, including Rare Books and Mississippiana, Manuscripts, University Archives, the Congressional and Political Research Center (CPRC), Cultural Development and Outreach, the Charles H. Templeton Sr. Music Museum, and the Digital Preservation and Access Unit (DPAU).

• Collaborating with department heads to manage outreach, programming, and donor relations programs, and serving as the primary point of contact for donors to Archives & Special Collections.

• Coordinating the division’s activities with other departments within MSU Libraries, such as Collections Management & Strategy, Research Services, Access Services, and the Digital Media Center.

• Working collaboratively with the Grant Presidential Library Executive Director and the Williams Endowed Chair in Lincoln & Civil War Studies.

• Actively engaging with the library profession through scholarship and professional service.

• Serving as Ex-Officio member of the MSU University Libraries Committee.

Minimum Qualifications:

• ALA-accredited MLS, MIS, or equivalent degree.
• Record of contributing to the profession via research, presentations, publications, and service sufficient for appointment as an Associate Professor or Professor with tenure.
• Demonstrated commitment to fostering an environment of equity, diversity, and inclusion.
• Demonstrated ability to cast vision and set priorities for library, archival, and museum collections.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate and innovate for the development of new ideas and initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to advocate and serve as a voice for Archives & Special Collections at the library administrative level.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate communication between a variety of stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to participate in grant writing, grants management, donor relations, and fundraising.

Preferred Qualifications:

• An additional master’s degree or PhD in a relevant subject discipline.