Title: Diverse BookFinder Graduate Internship
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Position Purpose:
The Diverse BookFinder (DBF) is seeking applications for fall ‘24 interns from library and information science graduate programs. This internship will provide successful candidates with professional experience in librarianship and diverse children’s literature. This experience will allow the interns to explore a growing area of expertise in librarianship and prepare for professional opportunities. Interns will work with the DBF team of librarians, faculty, children’s book authors/illustrators, and publishing professionals.
The DBF is an online, searchable database designed to facilitate the discoverability and exploration of multicultural children’s books. Our goal is to diversify and balance bookshelves everywhere so that all our children can find themselves reflected and celebrated in libraries, schools, and homes across the nation.
To apply to intern with the Diverse BookFinder, please submit the following documents:
Cover letter (maximum 1 page) focused on your interest in and/or experience with the role of librarians in diversifying children's collections and advocating for diverse books. Specific internship interests (collection development or social media) will be discussed and explored during the Zoom interview.
Resume or C.V.
Contact information for an academic advisor and one reference.
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Job Duties:
This internship is unpaid and to be used for program credit.
Under the supervision of the Project Coordinator/Editorial Manager, the Intern will work in two main areas: 1) collection development and 2) social media content creation.
Collection Development Tasks:
- Utilize vendor services, professional tools, nontraditional resources, and professional judgment to evaluate and select children’s books to maintain and grow the Diverse BookFinder collection.
- Identify and request items promptly; familiarity with online selection tools is preferred.
- Maintain good communication and relationships with publisher contacts and establish new ones as necessary.
- Respond to collection-related questions from DBF audience/users and publishers/distributors.
- Maintain collection-related databases -- including acquired titles, titles to acquire (through both purchase and donation), and publisher contacts.
- Evaluate and suggest new collection development tools and services that may improve or streamline processes.
- Assist with creating, maintaining, and updating collection policies, procedures, and guidelines.
Social Media Tasks:
- Promote the DBF's work, events, and mission-related initiatives.
- Highlight the accomplishments and milestones of partner org's doing DBF mission-related work.
- Grow our audience.
- Design & share relevant, creative, and engaging content for all DBF social media platforms.
- Create a regular publishing schedule & implement an editorial calendar to manage content and plan specific, timely campaigns.
- Review national, state, and local news sources re: diverse book advocacy to select content to share.
- Review Facebook and Instagram feeds related to the diverse books movement for content to repost.
- Build awareness of DBF tools, services, and research/data with online audiences.
- Compile reports for the team showing results using Google Analytics, FB analytics, and Instagram Analytics.
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Minimum Qualifications:
Education
Candidates must be enrolled in an ALA-accredited LIS program and use this internship opportunity for credit or to fulfill program requirements.
Experience
We seek candidates with a critical understanding of race, culture, and power and a strong interest in applying this knowledge to analyses of BIPOC representation in picture books. Candidates who can enhance the diversity of our team are encouraged to apply.
Skills and Knowledge
- Commitment to equity and inclusion, and serving the needs of a culturally and educationally diverse community.
- Demonstrate the ability to work effectively -- independently and as part of a team.
- Demonstrate a professional, positive, cooperative, team-oriented working relationship with colleagues.
- Must exhibit effective communication and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to demonstrate initiative and flexibility.
- Minimum commitment of one term (summer, fall, spring semester options).
- A minimum of 60 hours over the term and maximum hours to be determined by interns’ program requirements; a minimum of 10 hours/week.
- Weekly check-ins via Zoom, midterm, and end-of-term reflective writing.
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Benefits: Bates College offers access to the library and athletic facilities, and a supportive, collegial environment in a drug- and smoke-free workplace.
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Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:
Bates College is committed to the principle of equal opportunity and providing an educational and work environment free from discrimination. The college prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status and other legally protected statuses in the recruitment and admission of its students, in the administration of its education policies and programs, or in the recruitment of its faculty and staff. Bates College adheres to all applicable state and federal equal opportunity laws and regulations. All college faculty, staff, students, contractors, visitors, and volunteers are responsible for understanding and complying with the Non-Discrimination Policy.
Inquiries concerning the college’s policies, compliance with applicable laws, statutes, and regulations (such as Title VII, Title IX, and ADA/Section 504), and complaints may be directed to Gwen Lexow, Title IX Officer, 207-786-6445 or via email at glexow@bates.edu.
About Bates:
Bates is internationally recognized as a leading liberal arts college, attracting 2,000 students from across the U.S. and around the world.
Since 1855, Bates has been dedicated to educating the whole person through creative and rigorous scholarship in a collaborative residential community. Committed to opportunity and excellence, Bates has always admitted students without regard to gender, race, religion, or national origin.
Cultivating intellectual discovery and informed civic action, Bates prepares leaders sustained by a love of learning and zeal for responsible stewardship of the wider world. Bates engages the forces — intellectual trends, demographic changes, and technology — that are transforming higher education and the world into which our students graduate.
Bates has highly competitive admissions, graduates over 90 percent of its entering students, and more than half of its alumni earn graduate degrees. Bates employs 200 faculty members and 550 staff.
The college is proud of deep roots in the Lewiston/Auburn community, Maine’s second-largest urban area with a population of approximately 65,000. Bates is located on a beautiful, 133-acre, traditional New England campus in Lewiston, an emerging city with an entrepreneurial climate, a lively arts scene, and a dynamic business community. Bates is 35 miles north of Portland, 140 miles north of Boston, and 350 miles north of New York City.