Access Services Librarian

Apply/Register Job no: 493166
Work type: Staff Full-time
Location: Brookdale Center, 55 Fifth Avenue, NY, NY
Categories: Education/Teaching, Information Technology, Student Services

Position Summary:      

The Benjamin N. Cardozo’s Dr. Lillian and Dr. Rebecca Chutick Law Library has an opening for its Access Services Librarian position. This position is ideally suited to a highly-organized, detail-orientated, tech-savvy law librarian eager to expand their skills in reference and research, supervision, administration, and teaching. The Access Services Librarian manages all access services operations, the interlibrary loan service, and general collection management. The position works collaboratively with colleagues on a variety of workflow issues, assignments and projects as well as providing legal research training and legal reference service to more than 1,000 J.D. and LL.M. students, over 90 full-time and adjunct faculty, and other patron groups. Those individuals excited in the evolving work of academic law libraries are encouraged to apply.

Position Responsibilities:

Administrative Duties

Hire, discipline, train, evaluate and schedule the staff and student workers who work at the circulation/reserve desk, at the printing helpdesk, within the interlibrary loan department, and in collection management and with the microform collections. Formulate, update, and implement policies and procedures. Regularly revise and update manuals. Initiate communication about spheres of oversight both within and outside the Library, as appropriate. Oversee the on-time opening and closing of the library each day.

Prepare reports: compile and maintain statistics in areas of oversight on various measures of library use. Address personnel issues with HR and the Assistant Director. Maintain and update policies and procedures manual for all areas of oversight. Suggest improvements and changes to workflows. Foster a workplace of open, timely communication. Keep informed of administrative policies and procedures.

Access Services

Integrate circulation workflow with general library workflow. Coordinate workflow with other librarians and staff. Oversee the checking of call numbers and the creation of electronic item records. Determine the status of missing materials and coding of records. Supervise the distribution of materials requested from the library. Oversee the printing/copying system, from communicating with members of Yeshiva University’s ITS department to monitoring the use of paper and toner.

Determine, implement and review circulation policies and procedures. Communicate policies to students, faculty and other library patrons. Solve problems with users’ borrowing statuses. Oversee and resolve billing and customer services issues. Oversee implementation of due dates and recalls.  Organize and direct circulation overdue notices; negotiate overdue charges with patrons. Oversee the collection of fines and fees for non-affiliated patron access. Communicate with local academic libraries regarding reciprocal access. Develop and maintain effective relationships with library users and the local library community.

Provide expertise and training in the use of the Innovative Interfaces circulation module. Work with the Systems and Emerging Technologies Librarian regularly regarding the Innovative system. Manage the electronic patron files. Supervise the creation, maintenance and coding of records. Resolve problems. Maintain contact with university offices regarding status of students.

Reference, Research, and Instruction

Provide print and electronic reference service for Anglo-American, international, foreign and comparative law by responding to in-person, telephone and email/IM inquiries. Able to work some night and Sunday reference, as part of a rotation. Assist library users with basic access issues regarding the network and applications, such as exam software or the course management system, used in the law school.  

Provide research support to faculty members, faculty assistants, and RA/TAs, often coordinated by the Faculty and Scholarly Services Librarian.

Participate in all instructional activities, from teaching research courses to one-off trainings. Teach at least one section of Advanced Legal Research (ALR), a required course for all Cardozo law students. Teach additional for-credit classes, based on need and interest. Participate in regular trainings for classes and clinics.

Collection Management

Monitor the physical arrangement, appearance and organization of the library and library collection. Make suggestions to the Director of the Law Library. Works closely with librarians involved in Collection Development on space needs and changes to the collection.

Direct collection management functions and stack maintenance. Train and assign staff in filing and shelving materials. Determine what superseded materials should be discarded. Determine the physical treatment given to materials. Provide the instructions for the repair and/or replacement of looseleaf binders and for labeling cancelled or discontinued materials. Plan the use of stack spaces.  Oversee and guide the shift of library materials. Determine which materials to place in storage. Organize storage space.

Coordinate activities related to the general microform collection. Oversee the record keeping (statistics and history cards) and the filing of the microforms. Update and create microform finding lists. Monitor the maintenance of the microform collections (shifting; labeling; environmental conditions, etc.).

Oversee the maintenance of the reference and reserve collections. Evaluate the reference collection. Recommend the replacement of disintegrating and/or damaged materials. Assist in determining which tangible titles should be replaced by electronic access. Determine which materials should be placed on/remain on reference or reserve.  Communicate with faculty about their use of reserve for courses. Work with staff to maintain the electronic course reserve subsystem and create and update course reserve records.

Oversee and direct library services provided outside the law library facility. Maintain and update collections in satellite libraries. Supervise, hire, train, discipline and schedule staff who assist in maintaining these services.  Supervise the routing to and filing of materials for professors.

Interlibrary Loan

Hire, discipline, train, evaluate, and schedule staff who assist with resources sharing services. Manage interlibrary loan activities, both lending and borrowing of materials. Comply with national standards, including copyright laws and appropriate format for fulfill requests. Assess and evaluate expenditures for borrowing and lending materials (shipping costs, borrowing fees, payments for lost items, etc.). Supervise the processing of shared materials. Utilize and instruct staff in the electronic OCLC Resource Sharing module. Evaluate and select lending institutions. Comply with coding standards. In coordination with the Systems and Emerging Technologies Librarian, maintain OCLC ILL records and monitor, interpret, and communicate OCLC ILL information releases.

Professional Development

Keep informed of new trends in access services and the law profession. Serve on professional committees and attend conferences.

Acts independently when supervising staff and student workers and when evaluating and updating records. Works collaboratively with other librarians when managing workflows and scheduling staff during the normal 88 hours of operation each week. Consults, as needed, with other departments, including Facilities, HR, and ITS. Take an active role in instructional activities. Regularly meets with other librarians and the Director of the Law Library on library services and changing priorities. Responsible for overseeing the processing of interlibrary loan requests, managing more than 270,000 physical volumes and pieces of microform

Perform other duties as assigned.

Experience & Educational Background:

M.L.S. and J.D. (or equivalent law degree) required. Meaningful supervisory experience preferred. Formal teaching experience, especially in an academic environment, is preferred.

Skills & Competencies:

  • Superior organizational, planning and administrative skills including the ability to work effectively on the broad picture as well as on the detail level.
  • Strong technical skills. Active interest in technology. Ability to understand what technology can be used for to improve services, instruction efforts, and workflows.
  • Strong communication skills in the formal classroom environment.
  • Demonstrate problem solving skills. Strong service orientation.
  • Effective interpersonal oral and written communication skills.
  • Ability to:
    • multi-task and maintain professionalism and collegiality while addressing many people-problems daily.
    • work and lead in an atmosphere of collaboration and team work.
    • supervise, mentor, and develop union staff and student workers.
    • understand library systems and be able to translate processes into effective workflow.
    • write and review complex procedures and work with statistics.
    • be flexible with work assignments and work hours.

Application Instructions:

Please apply with your resume and cover letter.

About Us:

The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law is a leader in legal education, located in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. The law school is renowned for its program in intellectual property, which includes the FAME Center for Fashion, Arts, Media and Entertainment Law. Cardozo Law has a long tradition of public advocacy and is the birthplace of the Innocence Project and the home of our Center for Rights and Justice.  Cardozo offers a world-class faculty and encourages creative thinking and innovation in the legal profession. Cardozo provides students with a strong foundation in legal theory combined with practical hands-on experience in a variety of areas including criminal law, civil rights law, and business law. The school prides itself on creating a vibrant and warm community for faculty, staff and students.

A division of Yeshiva University, Cardozo Law School offers an excellent compensation package, and a broad range of employee benefit plans. The law school is a secular institution within a religious university and welcomes people of all religions, ethnic backgrounds, races and sexual identities.

Equal Employment Opportunity:           

Yeshiva University is an equal opportunity employer committed to hiring minorities, women, individuals with disabilities and protected veterans.

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