Head of Collections Strategies

University of California Los Angeles; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

The UCLA Library seeks a collaborative and analytical librarian to lead its Collection Strategies department. Reporting to the Associate University Librarian for Digital Strategies and Collections Services, the role oversees 3.5 FTE and partners across units to develop holistic collecting strategies and budgets.

Responsibilities include policy development, data-informed decision making, and leadership in UC system and consortial efforts.

Qualifications

• ALA-accredited Master’s in Library Science or related degree at hire.
• Minimum five years of professional experience building and managing library collections.
• Knowledge of 21st century collections issues for research libraries and trends in collection development.
• Demonstrated evidence of data-informed strategies and analytics.
• Experience generating queries and reports using library analytics tools.
• Experience designing and implementing assessment activities and translating findings into action.
• Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively on projects.
• Excellent communication, organizational, analytical and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Collection Strategies department (3.5 FTE) and supervise staff.
• Develop policies and procedures for habitual assessment and data-informed decisions.
• Align collections strategies with teaching and research objectives.
• Collaborate with multiple units to manage materials across formats and access methods.
• Advise licensing and e-resources negotiations related to collections.
• Assess needs and constraints of collections and develop strategic solutions.
• Support space planning and ensure stewardship of physical collections.
• Communicate changes to Library and campus stakeholders.
• Lead cross-unit and consortial collection development activities.

Skills

Analytics

Budgeting

Assessment design

Collaboration

Reporting queries

Communication

Project management

Independent work

Problem solving

Interpersonal skills

Education

MLS or related degree

Tools

Alma Analytics

ChoreoInsights

Scopus

COUNTER usage reports

SUSHI harvesting

Job description

The UCLA Library seeks a collaborative and highly analytical librarian with extensive experience in collection development and management to lead our Collection Strategies department.

Reporting to the Associate University Librarian for Digital Strategies and Collections Services, the incumbent will lead a team of librarians (3.5 FTE) in the development of a holistic collecting philosophy and strategies for carrying it out. Effective execution of these strategies will be done in partnership with dozens of Library employees, across multiple departments, to whom the incumbent will allocate budgets and delegate material selection responsibilities. Strong collaboration is also required in the Library’s shared collecting efforts with partners in the UC system and other consortia. To achieve optimal use of the collections budget, and to ensure decisions about collections are data-informed, the incumbent will also partner with Library employees in other units, like Library Analytics, Metrics and Assessment (LAMA), Library Business Services (LBS), and Licensing & E-Resources Acquisitions (LEA) to continually gather data and perform rigorous assessments of the collections budget and campus usage of materials in the Library’s collections.

Position Duties

Reporting to the Associate University Librarian for Digital Strategies and Collections Services, the incumbent is responsible for:

Strategic and Collaborative Collections Analysis, Development, Management

1. Collaborate with multiple departments to develop and carry out policies and procedures that foster a culture of habitual assessment and improvement and ensure decisions about collections are documented, measurable, and rigorously data-informed.
2. Implement strategies for collections development that align with the University's teaching and research objectives.
3. Collaborate with multiple collecting units to develop a holistic collecting philosophy that encompasses materials in all formats (e.g. print, electronic, audio/visual), all acquisition types (e.g. purchased, licensed, open access) and all access methods (e.g. circulating, online, restricted (i.e. rare and archival).)
4. Advises the Licensing & E-Resources Acquisitions unit in their evaluations and negotiations of the terms within publishers' licensing agreements.
5. Collaborate with multiple departments to assess the needs and constraints of collections in all formats and locations and develop strategic solutions for effective collection management (including relocation, retention, and deduplication).
6. Advise Library leadership engaged in space planning to ensure proper stewardship of physical collections.
7. Communicate consistently and effectively with Library and campus stakeholders regarding changes to the Library's collections.
8. Lead and coordinate formal and informal collections-related working groups, committees, and projects.
9. Lead the Library's participation in shared collection development activities within the UC system and other consortia.
10. Maintain in-depth knowledge of trends in academic publishing and scholarly communication and emerging solutions in collection development and management.

Financial Management

1. Ensure effective and appropriate use of all funds in the collections budget.
2. Implement fund management policies and procedures in alignment with directives from campus and Library leadership.
3. Assertively negotiate with vendors to achieve optimal pricing, maximize the reach of the collections funds, and ensure long term sustainability of the budget.
4. Create allocations and delegate responsibility as needed for collections funds to other Library employees with collections responsibilities (both within and outside the Collections Strategies unit) and provide training and leadership for them.
5. Manage special purpose funds and selected endowments as needed.

Department Management

1. Manage, supervise, and provide direction for direct reports in the Collection Strategies department (3.5FTE).
2. Define problems, provide solutions, and support professional development for the members of the department.
3. Encourage a culture of collaboration, evidence-based decision-making, and continual improvement within the unit and across the Library.
4. Model behavior that aligns with UCLA's true bruin values of integrity, excellence, and belonging.

Other

1. Participate in professional activities, scholarship, and University or community service appropriate to a UC academic librarian and performs other responsibilities as assigned.
2. Work closely with Library Development to identify and steward donors, collections, and endowed gift funds.

The successful candidate will be committed to promoting and enhancing diversity through engagement with and promotion of the UCLA True Bruin values and the UCLA Principles of Community; able to collaborate across departments and divisions; foster an inclusive and team-oriented work environment; adaptable to change; and able to lead teams through change.

General Information

Professional librarians at UCLA are academic appointees. This is a non-represented position. Within the UC System, most librarians are represented by an exclusive bargaining agent, University Council – American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT). As academic appointees, librarians are entitled to appropriate professional leave, two days per month of vacation leave, one day per month of sick leave, and all other benefits granted to non-faculty academic personnel. UC has an excellent retirement system and sponsors a variety of group health, dental, vision, and life insurance plans in addition to other benefits. Relocation assistance may be provided.

Appointees to the librarian series at UC shall have professional backgrounds that demonstrate a high degree of creativity, teamwork, and flexibility. Such background will normally include a professional degree from an ALA-accredited library and information science graduate program. In addition to professional competence and quality of service within the library in the primary job, advancement in the librarian series requires professional involvement and contributions outside of the library, and/or university and community service, and/or scholarly activities. Candidates must show evidence or promise of such contributions.

Description of Unit

The Collections Strategies department consists of 4 librarians (3.5 FTE) responsible for monitoring collections budgets, analyzing the usage of resources, negotiating deals with vendors, and collaborating with consortial partners. The department administers approval plans and delegates budgets and resource selection responsibilities to librarians in several units in the Library, including Teaching Learning Services, International & Areas Studies, Research Services, and the East Asian Library. The Collections Strategies department exists within Digital Strategies and Collections Services which includes Resource Acquisitions, Metadata Services, and the Library’s technology units: Library Technology Support (LTS), Library Systems Infrastructure (LSI), Digital Library & Systems of Record (DLSR), Library Access & Discovery Interfaces (LADI), and Library Analytics, Metrics, and Assessment (LAMA).

Description of Institution and Library

As one of the world's great public research universities, UCLA integrates education, research, and public service so that each enriches and extends the others. From its beautiful neighborhood campus in a uniquely diverse and vibrant city on the Pacific Rim, teaching and research extend beyond the classroom, office, and lab through active engagement with communities, organizations, projects, and partnerships throughout the region and around the world.

UCLA’s diverse community of scholars encompasses nearly 30,000 undergraduates pursuing 125 majors, 13,000 graduate students in fifty-nine research programs, and 4,000 faculty members including Nobel Laureates; Rhodes Scholars; MacArthur Fellows; winners of the Fields Medal, National Medal of Science, Pritzker Prize, and Pulitzer Prize; and recipients of Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, and Golden Globes. UCLA ranks tenth in the Times of London Higher Education World Reputation Rankings, twelfth in the Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and fifth in the U.S. by Washington Monthly. The National Research Council ranks forty of its graduate and doctoral research programs among its top ten.

To enable these accomplished students, faculty, and staff to create, disseminate, and apply knowledge for the benefit of global society, the UCLA Library is re-envisioning how it is acquired, synthesized, and shared across academic audiences and with the public. It was among the first academic libraries to develop subject-specialist librarians and to launch a program to enhance students’ research skills. Its Special Collections pioneered the acquisition by public institutions of rare and unique books, children’s literature, pulp and detective fiction, works by or about women and minorities, screenplays, architectural plans, and Los Angeles-related materials and today leads the way in collecting archival resources in digital format such as emails and manuscripts. It has launched innovative data management services and an affordable course materials initiative that have served as models for other libraries.

The Library serves UCLA students, faculty, and staff whenever and wherever they need its resources and expertise. Reconfigured, high-tech spaces and services in its ten campus libraries enable users and librarians to explore and work with print and digital materials collaboratively or individually, pursue new lines of inquiry, and develop new pedagogical approaches as well as novel forms of scholarship. More than 3.5 million people visit annually, while an additional 3.4 million visitors enter online through its virtual front doors.

Whether on campus or online, the Library forms the intellectual heart of UCLA, a hub for cutting-edge discovery, scholarship, and instruction.

• ALA-accredited Master’s Degree in Library or Information Science required at the time of hire; OR Master’s degree (or other advanced degree) in Information Sciences or related field at the time of hire and work experience in a library setting.
• Minimum of five years professional experience in building and managing library collections in print and digital formats, including management of funds.
• Knowledge and understanding of 21st century collections issues for research libraries, emerging practices, standards, and trends relating to collection development and management in an academic or research library environment.
• Demonstrated evidence of successful implementation of data-informed strategies.
• Demonstrated competencies in analysis, budgeting and planning, assessment and evaluation of library collections.
• Demonstrated extensive experience generating queries and reports library analytics sources and tools such as Alma Analytics, ChoreoInsights, Scopus, COUNTER usage reports, SUSHI harvesting, or comparable platforms.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing assessment activities and translating findings into actionable recommendations, service improvements, or organizational decisions.
• Demonstrated evidence of success working independently, as well as collaboratively, to plan, coordinate, and implement effective projects.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, both orally and in writing.
• Excellent organizational, analytical and problem‑solving skills.