Head of Collection Strategies

Head of Collection Strategies

Library of the University of California, Davis

The Library of the University of California, Davis seeks a creative, forward‑looking, collaborative, and service‑oriented Head of Collection Strategies. The position reports to the Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources and provides leadership in the broad area of collection strategy. The portfolio for this position includes providing direct supervision to the three collection strategists and the head of collection maintenance, and indirect supervision to the five other employees in collection maintenance.

This position has primary responsibility for the collection development budget ($8.4M). Working closely with the collection strategists, the Head guides collection development in support of all academic programs across the campus, engages in direct collection development for their own portfolio of academic programs, and serves as the library’s primary contact with the California Digital Library, vendors, publishers, and library personnel regarding issues and collections.

The role also provides leadership and indirect management for the collection maintenance unit, which includes personnel responsible for conservation and preservation, book repair, sending materials to the UC bindery, physical processing of materials, collection analytics, holdings and item maintenance, and UC Davis’s participation in the Google Books project. They also play a leadership role in the evaluation of potential gifts‑in‑kind and in cultivating a culture of assessment for library collections, broadening our concept of library collections to include research data and born‑digital resources, and advocating for open access and open scholarship.

The University will not offer visa sponsorship for this position. The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate that they are legally authorized to work in the United States.

• Lead and manage two units comprising nine personnel, directly and indirectly supervising the collection strategies and collection maintenance units.
  • Perform administrative duties such as hiring, training, development, evaluating staff, preparing letters of evaluation, assigning work, formulating policies, and overseeing equipment, software, and facilities.
  • Monitor budget expenditures, maintain statistics, prepare annual reports, and interpret library and university policies.
  • Collaborate with colleagues to assess strengths, impacts, and opportunities, and determine priorities and innovations that align with the academic mission.
  • Foster an environment that promotes accountability, high performance, and employee engagement.
• Provide inspired leadership for enhancing and evolving multiple components of the life cycle of collections:
  • Oversee budget allocations and expenditures for the $8.4M acquisitions budget and steward endowment and gift accounts.
  • Lead all collection development activities, including assessment, selection, and deselection of resources in all formats and subject areas; mentor staff in best practices.
  • Act as convener of the cross‑library Collection Strategies Network.
  • Represent UC Davis in cooperative collection development programs and UC‑wide licensed resource decision‑making.
  • Build and oversee a comprehensive assessment program to evaluate print and electronic resources and provide statistical analysis and reports.
  • Participate in overall management of physical collections, including weeding and other projects, and coordinate with regional and national consortia.
  • Maintain awareness of trends and issues affecting collection management and development.
• Collaborate broadly to build and steward collections:
  • Cultivate strong collaborative relationships across the UC Davis Library organization.
  • Coordinate with UC Davis Stores and the Equitable Access Program on provision of required materials.
  • Maintain relationships with other campus units participating in cost‑sharing for selected resources.
  • Provide analysis regarding library collections for proposed degree and certificate programs.
  • Lead or participate in cross‑functional or interdepartmental teams across the library, campus, or UC system.
  • Repres…