Position Information

The Preservation and Book Arts Librarian independently runs the Book Conservation Lab within Wesleyan's Unique Collections department. Unique Collections also includes the Archaeology and Anthropology Collections, East Asian Art and Archival Collections, Special Collections, University Archives, and the World Music Archives and Music Library. The position reports to the Dietrich Family Associate University Librarian for Unique Collections and will collaborate with the other Unique Collections managers providing education offerings across Wesleyan’s curriculum and the creation of policies. As a whole, Unique Collections staff teach over 120 class sessions a year, manage student workers, oversee student-curated exhibitions, and create other programming and events. 

The Preservation and Book Arts Librarian has two main areas of responsibility. First, they will be responsible for ensuring the long-term well-being of the library’s general and special collections. This includes assessing collections, conducting preventative preservation efforts, and completing basic conservation treatments and preservation enclosures for books in the collections. They will also coordinate environmental monitoring, disaster preparedness and response, and the creation and maintenance of plans and policies related to integrated pest management.  

Second, they will also be responsible for building and maintaining an outreach program to leverage the Book Conservation Lab as a tool for applied learning and creativity. This will be done by working with faculty, classes, and individual students on projects; creating class sessions related to book arts, book construction, and topics related to book culture; and hiring and managing student workers to work in the lab. The ideal candidate brings a mix of technical expertise, preservation knowledge, program management, teaching experience, and a desire to expand our capacity for outreach. 

Responsibilities include: 

• Manage the Book Conservation Lab; hire, train, and supervise student employees performing book conservation work 

• Actively maintain, update, develop and apply plans and policies related to preservation measures, pest and environmental control, and disaster response, including leading the Library Emergency Response Team, and liaise with campus facilities staff on environmental controls 

• Collaborate with faculty to design and provide experiential learning activities and demonstrations in support of the curriculum; provide instruction on an individual basis with advanced and beginning students in the creation of book arts objects of their own design and interest 

• Perform basic conservation treatments and create preservation housing for bound materials in the library’s general and special collections; consult on archival materials, photographs, artifacts, textiles, and other formats  

• Create an environment open to various cultural approaches to design and interpretation; encourage a diverse student population to utilize the conservation lab; develop creative approaches to encourage use by students of all abilities 

• Create and conduct workshop offerings and create interest in events through advertising and outreach 

• Collaborate with other campus entities relevant to book arts and design, including the Shapiro Writing Center, the IDEAS Lab, Digital Design Studio, and Center for the Arts, to strengthen connections between these groups, promote awareness of the Book Conservation Lab, and create collaborative programming 

• Design and execute preservation assessments and surveys as needed 

• Other duties as assigned