Specialist III - Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center

Specialist III - Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center

Department: Research Libraries

Employment Type: Full Time

Location: Schomburg Center

Reporting To: La Tanya Autry

Compensation: $80,145 / year

For more than 125 years, The New York Public Library (NYPL) has been an essential provider of books, information, ideas, and education. With collections numbering more than 56 million items and serving more than 16 million patrons in person each year and millions more online, NYPL’s reach is both local and global. Our mission is to inspire lifelong learning, advance knowledge, and strengthen our communities.

At our world-class research centers–including the Humanities and Social Sciences Research Library at the Stephen

A. Schwarzman Building, the Library for the Performing Arts, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture–expert staff facilitate the work of our diverse communities, offering inspiring reading rooms, exhibitions, fellowships, and a dynamic range of research services. Their work is supported by dedicated staff on the Collections and Research Services teams. We are proud to be the most public and widely used research library in the world.

Founded in 1925 and named a National Historic Landmark in 2017, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is one of the world’s leading cultural institutions devoted to the collection, preservation, and interpretation of materials focused on African American, African, and African Diaspora experiences. The collection holds over 11 million items that illuminate the richness of global Black history and culture.

The Photographs and Prints Division collects, stewards, and provides access to unique, rare, and original visual source materials that document the history and culture of people of African descent globally.

The Specialist III will support a welcoming researcher experience in the Photographs and Prints Division. They will also collaborate on cataloging and archival processing of P& P collections. Additionally, this Specialist III will hire, train, and manage pages and interns in consultation with the division’s associate curator.

• Collaborates on policies and decisions for cataloging and processing, including specification of technical language, templates, and workflows
• Aids cataloging and processing of photography collections, creating finding aids and other organizational, access and public service related activities
• Aids photography collection management from accession and preservation to digitization, including housing, location and organization
• Assists in processing loan paperwork and digitization requests, including doing valuation research and collaborating with the NYPL’s Collection Management team
• Participates in committees that are related to professional responsibilities and serves as a liaison between the Schomburg Center and other NYPL units, including but not limited to Collection Management, Special Collections Processing and the Digital Imaging Unit
• Assists in responding to reference service inquiries related to photographs and prints collections
• Performs related duties as required

Required Education & Certifications

• ALA accredited Master’s degree (MLS, MLIS, MA) in Library and Information Studies, Archives, history, or related fields in the humanities

Required Experience

• Professional experience in a research setting, such as a library or university, or a large photography archive
• Experience in a photography archive or manuscripts repository processing collections and writing finding aids or demonstrated cataloging experience
• Experience using archives management tools, such as Archives Space, integrated library systems, such as Sierra, and…