Job Description

Chicago Theological Seminary, a seminary affiliated with the United Church of Christ, serves God, Christ’s Church, multiple faith communities, and the larger world by educating persons theologically and cultivating the intellectual, pastoral, and spiritual capacities of lay and ordained religious leaders, scholars, and activists who contribute to the increase of justice and mercy.

• Collaborate with key constituents to articulate and implement a vision of Learning Commons resources and services that will support the school’s educational processes and goals and strategic plan. This involves building on the traditional strengths of the Learning Commons, as well as exploring new ways for the Learning Commons to support learning and research in a rapidly changing educational environment.
• Manage operations, including personnel, budget and resource allocation, physical and digital collections, acquisitions and access, archival collections, and rare book collection.
• Prepare and complete required annual reports for accrediting bodies and various library consortia accurately and in a timely manner.
• Identify and capture appropriate library assessment metrics that align with institutional goals; evaluate and make recommendations for improvement in services
• Hire, train and supervise Learning Commons staff including student worker(s) and arrange for appropriate training and technical support.
• Serve as seminary archivist. Identify, select, and acquire institutional records of enduring value, including faculty papers. Collaborate and advise departments on scheduling and preservation of their records.
• Maintain digital collections of CTS publications. Identify and apply for grant opportunities for the Learning Commons, particularly preservation and digitization grants for archival collections.
• Develop, establish, implement, and review policies for the selection and acquisition of materials to support the educational and informational needs of students, faculty, and academic programs, as well as staff. Oversee collection development, resource sharing, and technical services.
• Serve as the library website’s webmaster; maintain the library discovery layer; manage authentication protocols, specifically the proxy configuration settings for electronic resources.
• Create learning opportunities though online webinars that will help members of the seminary community make full use of the library’s resources for their research and coursework.
• Provide in-person reference services to students, faculty and staff; Administer and support virtual reference services via LiveChat and by appointment over Zoom. Develop subject/research guides to support the curriculum on the LibGuides platform.
• Maintain and nurture network relationships with local, regional and national consortia (CARLI, ACTS, Atla, OCLC, SCELC).
• All other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Library Science.
• Master’s degree in religion, theology, or closely-related field.
• Five plus years of relevant experience
• Experience with MS Office Suite.
• Thorough knowledge of current library trends, standards, and services in higher
• education
• Demonstrated strengths in media/technology literacy and in providing access to
• electronic resources for students and faculty

Preferred Qualifications

• Working experience in a theological or religious studies library
• Strong record of service and research
• Supervisory and administrative experience in an academic setting

Employment Status: One year contract with possibility of renewal

FLSA Status: Exempt

Eligible for Benefits: Yes

Chicago Theological Seminary does not discriminate, or tolerate discrimination or harassment, against any member of its community on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex/gender, age, religion, disability, pregnancy, veteran status, marital status, sexual orientation, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law in matters of employment or admissions or in any aspect of the educational programs or activities it offers.

NOTE: This position description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employee may perform other related duties as required to meet the ongoing needs of the organization.

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