Description

Located at Eunice and James L. West Library on the campus of Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, TX. This staff position serves as Department Head, providing leadership, strategic direction, and oversight for departmental services, personnel, and daily operations. Supervises and mentors department faculty and staff; coordinates workflows; supports professional development; and ensures departmental goals align with the mission and strategic priorities of the library and institution. Responsible for information and research services in all formats and venues, including reference, instruction, information commons, workshops, and related initiatives. Provides in-person and virtual information, research, and reference services. Plans, teaches, and assesses information literacy instruction in collaboration with faculty. Develops materials to support research and instruction for all teaching modalities.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Experience in reference services for online programs is required.
• Experience in assessment strategies is preferred.
• Experience with Springshare software is preferred.
• Provides leadership, supervision, and evaluation of department staff.
• Oversees departmental planning, goal setting, assessment, and reporting.
• Coordinates scheduling and coverage for reference, instruction, and service points.
• Facilitates departmental meetings and supports collaborative decision-making.
• Ensure alignment of departmental initiatives with library and institutional strategic goals.
• Recommends policies, procedures, and service improvements.
• Mentors and supports library faculty and staff for professional development.
• Plans, teaches, and assesses information literacy instruction in collaboration with faculty.
• Develops digital and print-based materials to support research and instruction in all formats.
• Creates tailored instruction at the request of faculty.
• Provides effective group and one-on-one instruction sessions in all modalities.
• Locates and creates digital content to support academic instruction.
• Prepares, provides, and creates assessment tools for engaging library instruction.
• Maintains current knowledge of citation styles, information retrieval tools, and teaching practices.
• Develops traditional and computer-assisted instructional tools to help users develop library, electronic, and internet research skills.
• Manages collection development for assigned academic programs and recommends library materials and databases as appropriate.
• Informs and instructs librarians regarding current reference materials, sources, and service delivery practices.
• Participates in the development and maintenance of the reference guides, instruction videos, and online research tools.
• Develops and updates both print and electronic instructional support materials.
• Explores, evaluates, and encourages the deployment of emerging technologies into library programs and services.
• Serves as a liaison to academic departments to strengthen course-integrated library instruction.
• Develops campus partnerships and interacts collegially with the campus community.
• Provides weekly evening reference assistance for students at the reference desk.
• Participates in continuing education, professional associations, and library committees.
• Serves on faculty committees as assigned.
• Performs related duties as assigned.

Apply for this reference and instruction position on the university website.

Requirements

• Master of Library Science from an ALA-accredited institution is required.
• Experience working in a reference/instruction department in a library is required (5+ years).

Knowledge of:

• Knowledge of instruction and research
• Knowledge of best practices for online pedagogy.
• Knowledge of learning techniques as they apply to library instruction.

Skills :

• Ability to adhere to university and departmental policies and procedures.
• Ability to uphold our university’s core values.
• Ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community.
• Ability to work independently and efficiently to meet deadlines with minimum supervision.
• Ability to participate in a collaborative service-oriented environment.
• Ability to maintain a professional appearance and office atmosphere.
• Ability to provide and demonstrate excellent customer service.
• Ability to plan, prioritize tasks, and meet deadlines while working on multiple tasks.
• Proven interpersonal skills to provide support in a high-profile office with tact and diplomacy.
• Ability to maintain professionalism while working with diverse groups and in various situations.
• Ability to be discreet in handling confidential matters, while complying with privacy regulations.
• Knowledge of rules, standards, regulations, and laws regarding student records.
• Ability to develop skills and remain knowledgeable of current trends in library services.
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
• Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.