Towson University’s Albert S. Cook Library is accepting applications to join our growing team in this new role!
Open Scholarship Librarian
Position Description
Towson University’s Albert S. Cook Library seeks a dynamic and innovative individual to serve as the Open Scholarship Librarian. Our library is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse library staff by considering applicants from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. Towson University places a high priority on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion. You can read the campus’ commitment to diversity statement here: https://www.towson.edu/about/diversity.html. Candidates will be expected to explain how they have been and could be involved in advancing this campus goal. The Open Scholarship Librarian will provide expert guidance in contemporary scholarly communication issues including authors’ rights, open access, research & publication lifecycles, and new modes of publishing for TU faculty, staff, and students. They will devise and maintain a strategy for increasing the pipeline of scholarly content for deposit in TU’s library-managed institutional repository ScholarWorks@Towson with the goal of increasing usage of the repository. This position is a 12-month faculty status position available immediately.
Qualifications
MLS or equivalent from an ALA-accredited institution. Relevant experience, preferably in an academic environment or in publishing. Familiarity with scholarly communication, digital scholarship, and academic publishing trends. Strong creative vision and ability to lead innovative initiatives and services. Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to establish positive and productive collaboration working with diverse audiences and colleagues throughout the library and beyond. Demonstrated excellent organizational, analytical, time management and project management skills. Ability to meet the University’s criteria for promotion and permanent status of library faculty. Commitment to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Commitment to continued growth in areas of responsibility. Rank is determined by qualifications at time of appointment.
Responsibilities
The Open Scholarship Librarian will provide guidance in contemporary scholarly communications issues including authors’ rights, open access, and new modes of publishing for TU faculty, staff, and students. Serves as an advocate for open access publishing within the library and across the broader campus community. Develops, implements, markets, and promotes established and new open scholarship and scholarly communication programs. Develops and implements a training program for liaison librarians on issues of scholarly communication and open scholarship. Advises faculty, students, and staff on issues regarding open and equitable scholarly communication. Builds a network of campus and system-wide partners for supporting the research lifecycle. Investigates the possibility of improved publishing support systems. Plans and teaches information literacy in liaison area and other disciplines. Evaluates and selects resources for the assigned collection and related areas. This position is a 12-month faculty status position. Librarians are expected to progress successfully along the promotion and permanent status track and participate fully as members of the library faculty.
Albert S. Cook Library:
Albert S. Cook Library is the campus library for Towson University, the largest university in the Baltimore area and the second largest in the University System of Maryland. Cook Library also serves the Towson University Northeastern Maryland (TUNE) campus. With 23 faculty librarians and 25 staff, Cook Library provides superior support to Towson University.
About TU
Towson University was founded in 1866, is recognized by U. S. News and World Reports as one of the top public universities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, is Baltimore’s largest university, and is the largest public, comprehensive institution in the University of Maryland System. TU enrolls over 19,000 undergraduates and over 3,000 graduate students across six academic colleges (business, education, fine arts, health professions, liberal arts, science & mathematics), has over 865 full-time faculty, and offers more than 65 bachelor’s, 45 master’s, and 5 doctoral programs. Our centrally located campus sits on 330 rolling green acres and is 10 miles north of Baltimore, 45 miles north of Washington D.C., and 95 miles south of Philadelphia.
Application Process
Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled.
Click here to apply. Please note that the search number for which you are applying is LIB-3536.
A Criminal Background Investigation is required for the hired candidate and the results may impact employment.
The safety of our students, faculty, staff, and neighbors has been our top priority and the focus of every one of our decisions since the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The University System of Maryland (USM) has recently determined that mandating a COVID-19 vaccine for all faculty, staff, and students at all schools in the USM is both a reasonable and necessary means of protecting our health and safety. As a prospective hire at TU, proof of your full COVID-19 vaccination must be demonstrated before you begin employment with the university.
Applicant Data Form
Please be sure to visit the Applicant Data Form to complete a voluntary on-line applicant data form. The information you provide will inform the university’s affirmative action plan and is for statistical-related purposes only. The information will not be used for any other purpose.
Towson University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and has a strong institutional commitment to diversity, as detailed in A More Inclusive TU: Advancing Equity and Diversity (2020 – 25). TU is a national leader in inclusive excellence, the only institution in Maryland with zero achievement gap, and 68% growth in minority enrollment over the past 5 years. We encourage application from a variety of (dis)abilities, cultural, ethnic, race, sex, gender identity/expression, national origin, age, veteran status, color, religious, socio-economic, sexual orientation and belief backgrounds.