Director Bowdoin College Library

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Title Director of the Bowdoin College Library

Posting Number S01613JP

Department Library

Bowdoin College, a residential liberal arts college founded in 1794 and located in Brunswick, Maine, seeks its next Director of the Library. The Library, established in 1802, is central to Bowdoin’s educational mission and is highly valued for its rich collections, extensive services, and outstanding staff. The Director reports to the Senior Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs.

The Bowdoin College Library comprises Hawthorne-Longfellow Library, which houses the George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, and three branch libraries: the Pierce Art Library, the Beckwith Music Library, and the Hatch Science Library. The Library Annex, a short distance from campus, provides climate-controlled, high-density shelving for 200,000 volumes. Together, the Library has over 900,000 volumes in its physical collections and almost 4 million volumes in E-collections.

The Library is a selective depository for federal and state government documents and participates in the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin and Maine Cat shared catalogs. The operating budget of the library is $4,750,000 of which $3,850,000 is for library materials. There are also a number of restricted endowments that support the operating budgets as well as special projects.

The Library employs 43 staff members (including part-time) and more than 100 student assistants each semester. Staff work in functional teams and collaborate regularly with colleagues across campus, including those in Information Technology, the Baldwin Center for Learning and Teaching, Student Affairs, and academic departments and programs.

Connection with the campus community in support of teaching, learning, and scholarship is the foundation of the Library’s work. The Research and Instruction Librarians have developed a collaborative, inclusive approach to student learning: they partner with faculty to design research assignments and instruction sessions and work with students, individually and in groups, on coursework, independent research, research design and methods, copyright, open access, and data management.

Special Collections & Archives offers object-based instruction, mounts exhibitions and programs drawn from its rich collections, supports the administration of the College through records management and archival services, and serves researchers in person and remotely. Access and User Services along with Collections are vital partners across the college.

We seek a proven leader with the capacity to advance strategic priorities and advocate for the library. The next Director will understand the opportunities and challenges facing academic libraries today, as well as the goals of a liberal arts education. They will bring demonstrated team-building experience and thrive in a genuinely collaborative environment. The next Director also will serve as a leader in conversations about AI in a liberal arts context, both within the Library and across the College.

Looking ahead, experience with library space planning or renovation is desirable.

Working with library staff, College administration, and campus partners, the Director oversees all areas of library operations. Direct reports include the four Associate Librarians (Access and User Services;
Collections; Digital Initiatives and Special Collections & Archives; and Research, Instruction, and Outreach), the…