POSITION INFORMATION Title: Regional History Librarian
Type: full-time, year-round, non-exempt position
Schedule: Monday-Friday
Location: Ketchum, Idaho
Reports to: Mary Tyson, director of the Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History
Compensation: Starting hourly wage of $25/hr.
Benefits: 85% of health insurance premium paid by employer, retirement plan with 4% match, employer-paid AD&D policy, voluntary vision, short-term disability and dental plans.
Mission: The Community Library’s mission is to bring information, ideas, and individuals together to enhance the cultural life of the community. The Community Library strives to promote literacy, encourage community conversations, provide contemplative space, foster creativity, and deepen a sense of place in central Idaho. Special Instructions: successful applicants must be able to complete a criminal background check.
THE COMMUNITY LIBRARY ASSOCIATION The Community Library is a non-profit cultural institution supported in part by a thrift store, The Gold Mine Thrift Store, and in part by donations from community individuals and community organizations. The library serves the Wood River Valley in ways beyond those of a traditional library by engaging individuals through its library services, contemporary programming, and museum resources. It encourages educational and personal growth through its collections, its reference resources, its technological options, and its personal approach to 21st-century library practices. It engages in meaningful partnerships with other non-profits for the benefit of the entire community. The Community Library is a privately-funded public library. We offer free access like government- funded libraries, but we receive no dedicated tax support.
THE JEANNE RODGER LANE CENTER FOR REGIONAL HISTORY The Community Library’s Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History provides access to a range of resources and exhibits that cover central Idaho history. The center started in 1982 with a small collection of books and the beginnings of an oral history collection. It steadily grew in four decades and has recently blossomed to include a climate-controlled Special Collections archive, the Betty Olsen Carr Reading Room, the Ernest and Mary Hemingway House and Preserve historic site and collection, and the Wood River Museum of History and Culture. The collections cover the diverse history of the communities in central Idaho.
JOB SUMMARY The Community Library Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History includes the Betty Olsen Carr Reading Room, special collections and archive, Wood River Museum of History and Culture, and the Ernest and Mary Hemingway House and Preserve collection. The Center seeks a dynamic librarian to work as part of a team to make accessible central Idaho historical materials. The position includes performing general archival research services while dividing time between research requests, oral history work, processing and arranging, enhancing digital collections, overseeing preservation standards. In conjunction with the Center for Regional History team the position contributes to the development of museum and library exhibits. The Regional History Librarian will oversee the Betty Olsen Carr Reading Room collection and reference services.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Help patrons of all ages conduct research and navigate the Regional History collections;
Provide excellent service to library patrons and museum visitors of all ages and backgrounds;
Adhere to library, archives, and museum preservation and conservation standards;
Use the PastPerfect small museum collections management system and other discovery and access software tools as needed to organize and interpret the collection;
Catalog and process books;
Manage and interpret metadata through the integrated library system, The Library Corporation (TLC)--the user’s public-access catalog and the backend cataloger’s interface;
Assist in the management of media collection resources;
Assist in the management of the oral history collection;
Develop the online digital collection
Organize digitization workflows and contribute towards improved workflow;
Work with a curatorial team to execute museum exhibitions;
Plan curriculum for secondary school group visits to the archive and reading room;
Process archival collections;
Oversee the inventory work required to advance collection management;
Communicate effectively, both orally and in writing;
Work both independently and collaboratively in a production-oriented and creative team environment;
Be proficient with technology and metadata standards specific to archives, museums, and special collections;
Other duties as assigned by the Director of the Center for Regional History.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS To apply, please send a cover letter, resume, and the contact information for three professional or academic references to Mary Tyson via bringit@comlib.org. Please use the subject line “Regional History Librarian First Name Last Name” First review of applications will begin December 4, 2023. Please direct all questions to bringit@comlib.org or 208-806-2640.
PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORKING CONDITIONS Work is performed primarily indoors and may involve sitting at a computer and standing for lengthy periods of time. This position requires intermittent lifting and moving objects up to 40 pounds (heavier items must be team lifted). A high degree of public interaction is required for this position.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
Bachelor’s degree in history, another humanities field, archives management, library and information science, and/or related field or commensurate experience;
Demonstrated experience communicating with the public, whether in reference services, museum information and program services, in an educational setting, or in another customer service setting;
Demonstrated interest in for the history of the American West.
Strong technology skills including but not limited to Microsoft Office, database software such as ArchiveSpace or PastPerfect, website, multi-media, and social media skills, coupled with a willingness to learn new programs;
Demonstrated time management skills;
Demonstrated ability both to work independently and collaborate effectively with others.
Excellent attention to detail, organizational skills, and accuracy;
Demonstrated ability to foster an atmosphere of diversity and inclusion consistent with the Library’s mission.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Bilingual skills in English and Spanish.
Background in Idaho history or the history of the American West.
MSLS/MLIS from an ALA-accredited program, or related field.
THE COMMUNITY LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
The Community Library is a non-profit cultural institution supported in part by a thrift store, The Gold Mine Thrift Store, and in part by donations from community individuals and community organizations. The library serves the Wood River Valley in ways beyond those of a traditional library by engaging individuals through its library services, contemporary programming, and museum resources. It encourages educational and personal growth through its collections, its reference resources, its technological options, and its personal approach to 21st-century library practices. It engages in meaningful partnerships with other non-profits for the benefit of the entire community. The Community Library is a privately-funded public library. We offer free access like government- funded libraries, but we receive no dedicated tax support.
THE JEANNE RODGER LANE CENTER FOR REGIONAL HISTORY
The Community Library’s Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History provides access to a range of resources and exhibits that cover central Idaho history. The center started in 1982 with a small collection of books and the beginnings of an oral history collection. It stea...dily grew in four decades and has recently blossomed to include a climate-controlled Special Collections archive, the Betty Olsen Carr Reading Room, the Ernest and Mary Hemingway House and Preserve historic site and collection, and the Wood River Museum of History and Culture. The collections cover the diverse history of the communities in central Idaho.