Special Collections Manager

Western Washington University with over 15000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school is nationally recognized for its educational programs students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham Washington a coastal community of 90000 overlooking Bellingham Bay the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver British Columbia. Western has additional sites in Anacortes Bremerton Everett Port Angeles and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes such as being named one of the top public masters-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.

Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success increasing our Washington impact and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship research and creative activity. Westerns greatest strength is the outstanding students faculty staff and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can pursuit of this excellence individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff faculty administration student and external constituents. Further individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic societal environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.

Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections division supports Westerns mission which states that together with our students staff and faculty we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement. We encourage applications from women people of color people with disabilities veterans and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity.

The three units of Archives & Special Collections develop and manage teaching and research collections that document the culture and history of Western Washington University the local community the Pacific Northwest and the world. These collections dating from antiquity through the present include content critical to the study of historical trends social justice the changing environment and the impact of settler colonialism. Together these vital resources and the division support the teaching and research mission outlined in Westerns goals including to advance a deeper understanding of and engagement with place.

Under the supervision of the Special Collections Librarian and in collaboration with the Director of Archives & Special Collections this position participates in the overall management of the Special Collections unit (one of the three programs of Western Libraries Archives & Special Collections (A&SC) division). The Special Collections Manager provides public services and coordinates the use storage and security of rare books and archival collections including ensuring that the Special Collections area is open during advertised hours. The position supports the instructional outreach and programming activities of Special Collections. The Special Collections Manager also catalogs and processes materials in accordance with professional standards in the Special Collections unit of Western Libraries and hires trains and supervises student employees.

Detailed Description of Position Duties

Public Services (35%)

• Coordinates daily operations for the Special Collections unit: registering researchers responding to reference inquiries student staffing and use of facilities.
• Monitors the Special Collections Research Room to ensure proper use security and preservation of materials.
• Provides and supports intensive mediated public and reference services to diverse user groups including students faculty staff donors and members of the public.
• Performs searches of complex archival collections relevant to program and division holdings using a variety of platforms.
• Educates patrons about search and retrieval tools relevant to program and division holdings.
• Responds to in-person and remote reference and duplication requests in accordance with established division policies and procedures for the access and use of archival holdings.
• Ensures necessary documentation and internal communication about public service requests while maintaining confidentiality and privacy of users.
• Updates and maintains accurate records and statistics on users circulation of materials and instruction sessions in consultation with the Special Collections Librarian division and library staff.

Collection Management (30%)

• Manages new acquisitions including the monitoring of collections documentation and donor files processing and preservation activities and shelf locations.
• Serves as primary liaison to Cataloging & Metadata Services regarding the development and implementation of cataloging policies and procedures catalog maintenance and inventory control.
• Manages records in the library Alma system enhances existing catalog records and performs copy cataloging for Special Collections materials including rare books archival collections and historic photographs.
• In the creation and enhancing of bibliographic records adheres to established standards such as Resource Description and Access (RDA) Library of Congress Classification LC Subject Headings Manual DCRM(B) and others; proactively and independently sustains and builds expertise in these standards.
• Performs or provides oversight for arrangement and description of archival collections (including development of archival finding aids)
• Monitors and oversees stacks maintenance and environmental conditions in Special Collections and plans for future storage and preservation. Coordinates with Facilities Management as needed.
• Provides basic conservation treatments and participates in preservation.
• Identifies and digitizes resources for addition to digital collections in consultation with the Special Collections Librarian other Archives & Special Collections staff and the Digital Collections Roundtable and in accordance with appropriate standards best practices and workflows.
• Creates edits and/or reviews metadata for digital resources in accordance with appropriate best practice guidelines and standards.

Instruction and Outreach (15%)

• In collaboration with the Special Collections Librarian prepares Special Collections resources for use in instructional sessions public presentations and other events.
• Assists in promoting Special Collections holdings to internal and external audiences.
• Establishes and maintains relationships with library users including students faculty community groups and prospective donors to raise awareness of Archives & Special Collections holdings and needs in collaboration with the Special Collections Librarian and other division staff.
• Provides orientations and tours of Special Collections to visiting individuals or groups.

Hires trains and supervises student employees (10%)

• In consultation with division colleagues and Library Administration promotes employment opportunities interviews and recommends hires for student employment.
• Effectively communicates responsibilities and expectations to student employees in a clear and concise manner
• Develops project plans and training materials; assigns supervises and performs quality control for work of student employees.
• Participates in supervisory training and related committee work (e.g. Student Supervisors Group)

Engage in professional development activities related to diversity equity and inclusion (DEI) (5%)

• Fosters integration of DEI practices into all other position duties and participates in library and division social justice discussions and activities.

Other Duties (5%)

• Collaborates with the Director of Archives & Special Collections the Special Collections Librarian and other staff on strategic planning policy development and implementation and special projects as assigned.
• Prepares reports as requested.
• Attends library and division meetings serves on library committees and participates in professional development as appropriate to job duties.

The State HR classification for this position is Library and Archives Professional 2.

• Masters degree in Library and Information Science from an ALA-accredited library school or an advanced degree in related discipline.
• Knowledge of and ability to articulate archives and library functions practices and procedures standards and vocabularies (e.g. EAD MARC RDA LCSH DCRM(B)).
• Demonstrated experience working in a professional archives and/or special collections performing duties in accordance with professional standards and best practices.
• Ability to provide courteous efficient and effective service to patrons of diverse backgrounds experiences and needs.
• Experience directing the work of others.
• Strong and effective communication style both written and verbal with excellent interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work in a team environment and collaborate effectively with colleagues in a workplace setting.
• Proficiency with standard software tools such as databases spreadsheets and shared information environments.
• Strong attention to detail and demonstrated ability to organize time data and projects effectively.
• Demonstrated commitment to furthering accessibility diversity equity and inclusion in the workplace and through archives and special collections practice.

• Specialized coursework or training in archives and/or rare books and special collections.
• Experience working with Ex Libris Alma and Primo Archives Space or other archival and library management systems.
• Experience working with digital collections and management system(s).
• Bibliographic knowledge of one or more non-English languages represented in the collections (such as Latin Hebrew German and Yiddish).
• Experience in the supervision of student workers.
• Knowledge of preservation and conservation as related to archives and rare books.
• Experience with original and complex copy cataloging; familiarity with cataloging standards for rare materials (e.g. DCRMB DCRMMss).

Position open to PSE Dual Career Assistance (DCA) and permanent (including project) WWU employees; position closes 05/04/2026 at 11:55 pm. PSE candidates will receive priority consideration.