Job Abstract

The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University invites applications for a cluster of four curators to build, interpret, and steward the library’s extraordinary collections in one or more of the following areas of focus:

• Indigenous history and culture, including North America. European history and culture, pre-1800. Caribbean and/or Black Atlantic World. Medieval studies. U.S. history and culture, especially pre-1900. Ethnicity, race, and migration. Gender and sexuality. History of science. Environmental studies. Visual culture, including history of photography. Material history, including print culture, book history, and critical bibliography.

The four curators hired through this cluster will join a talented team of four curators, working collaboratively to build collections of lasting importance, relevance, and interconnectivity. Reporting to the Director of Collections and Chief Curator, these open positions reflect the Beinecke Library’s ongoing commitment to an ambitious collecting agenda that foregrounds diverse perspectives and historical voices, upholds the highest ethical and professional standards, and thoughtfully engages with the complex nature of building research collections today.

Working with Beinecke Library colleagues to identify historic gaps and areas of strategic opportunity, successful candidates will envision and realize a collection development strategy; help faculty, students, and researchers make effective use of the collections in the reading room, the classroom, and online; interpret the collections through exhibitions, programming, community engagement, and teaching; collaborate with colleagues to set priorities for cataloging, processing, conserving, and digitizing the collections; foster organizational collegiality and inclusivity; contribute to the successful fruition of library and departmental initiatives; and complete other duties as assigned.

DEIA Commitment in Recruitment: Yale University Library serves a diverse staff, campus, local, and global community and is deeply committed to advancing its goals for equity, inclusion, and accessibility. This commitment is reflected in our mission, strategic directions, staff values, initiatives, and scholarly activity. To support our goals for staff recruitment, retention, and development, Yale Library invites applications from candidates who have a proven commitment or demonstrated success with supporting diversity and inclusion through their work, service, research, and/or teaching.

This position will be assigned the rank of Librarian 3 to 5 based on a combination of professional experience and qualifications. Librarian ranking information can be found at http://bit.ly/YULRanksPromotions. Adept collaborator with ability to foster organizational collegiality. 1. Collection Development and Stewardship: The curator‘s collection development responsibilities encompass active research and selection of materials across a broad range of formats, including manuscripts, archives, visual materials, and digital media, as well as all formats of print materials from books to ephemera; dealer and donor relations, including establishing fair price and market value, understanding the total cost of acquisition, drafting deeds of gift and purchase agreements, and keeping abreast of evolving legal and ethical considerations for provenance, international export guidelines, intellectual property rights, privacy, and respectful stewardship of cultural heritage materials. To develop and steward a diverse and growing collection, the curator will broaden their areas of expertise to meet evolving collecting, teaching, and research priorities. The curator collaborates with colleagues in other units of the Library as well as with colleagues across Yale’s cultural heritage institutions to ensure that the collections are discoverable, accurately and appropriately described, and well preserved.2. Teaching and Research: The curator will foster the use of the collection by Yale faculty, students, as well as local, national, and international researchers. In collaboration with Education Program staff, the curator will take the lead on multiple classes each semester. The curator will prepare and lead instruction sessions for faculty, including evaluating and selecting and setting up materials, developing lesson plans, collaborating with instructors on assignments and learning objectives, assessing the success of instruction strategies and approaches, and drawing on other library staff as co-instructors as appropriate. The role will work with faculty and other campus partners to identify areas where special collections and archives can support course instruction, strengthen instructional collaborations across the university, and integrate collections and resources into new and existing classes and programs. The curator will also present materials to other groups who visit the library, collaborate with colleagues to respond to general reference and instruction requests, and participate in the library’s fellowship selection committee.3. Activate and Interpret the Collections: The curator is responsible for interpreting the holdings of the collection for both the international scholarly community and the broader public. The curator may conceive and organize exhibitions; collaborate with faculty, students, and external scholars to organize conferences, symposia, and lectures; and write and edit various publications about the collection. The curator may be called upon to issue news releases, grant interviews, conduct tours, and make presentations. The curator is encouraged to maintain an active research agenda.4. Collaboration: The curator is expected to function in a collegial fashion as part of a larger team of curators and librarians to sustain a broad program of collection development, scholarly and educational outreach, description, digitization, preservation, and research in the humanities. Demonstrated consensus-building and problem-solving skills, experience coordinating multiple projects, and the ability to bring projects to fruition are vital to the success of this position.5. Service to the Department, University, and Profession. In addition to activities relating directly to the Beinecke Library, the curator participates in library projects, committees, policy decisions and strategic planning and may be assigned special projects relating to the overall needs of the library. The curator is also expected to participate actively in professional organizations as appropriate. Master’s degree in a related course of study.