Collections Care Associate

University of Iowa•Iowa City, IA

4d•$45,500 - $52,000•Onsite

About The Position

The University of Iowa Libraries seeks to hire a Collections Care Associate (Senior Library Associate PLC2/3A) to work in the Conservation and Collections Care department. Under the direction of the Collections Care Coordinator, the Collections Care Associate performs a variety of interventions for preventive care and remediation of physical materials, in all formats and across all library locations.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and related work experience
Minimum of one-year related experience
Experience working with physical collections (e.g., libraries, archives, museums)
Knowledge of basic collections care, preservation, or conservation principles
Strong organizational and attention-to-detail skills for inventory, documentation, and quality control
Ability to manage multiple workflows and prioritize tasks effectively
Experience using basic office and collaboration tools (e.g., Microsoft Office, email systems)
Strong communication skills (written and verbal) for responding to inquiries and coordinating with vendors and internal departments
Ability to perform physical tasks such as lifting, packing, and moving library materials

Nice To Haves

Degree in Library and Information Science (MLIS) or related field
Experience with materials processing workflows (e.g., metadata handling, preparation for circulation, rehousing)
Hands-on experience with book repair, conservation, or preservation treatments
Experience maintaining web content or departmental websites
Experience with excel, data tracking, and statistics collection
Experience working in an academic or research library environment
Ability to train, supervise, or coordinate work of student employees or staff

Responsibilities

Perform materials processing workflows: prepare materials for patron use, including assessing for shelf readiness, metadata work, rehousing or other preventive interventions required, marking, and delivery.
Manage centralized commercial bindery operations out of Main Library, including inventory management, packing and unpacking shipments, and conducting quality control. Coordinate with staff at other library locations for distributed bindery workflows.
Manage deacidification workflow: plan and communicate with vendor, prepare and ship materials.
Request page replacements for damaged items through ILL.
Provide collections care support for materials moving from Main Library and other library locations to remote storage at off-site high-density storage facility.
Serve as administrative supervisor and/or provide functional supervision for 1-3 student employees in the department. Tasks include hiring, training, evaluating performance, and coordinating workflows and priorities.
Create, update, and maintain documentation, and collect statistics for measuring impact and efficiency, making recommendations for continuous quality improvement.
Perform annual updates on the Collection Emergency Response Plan and maintain documents on SharePoint. Maintain emergency response kits throughout all library locations.
Assist as needed with book repair, mending, and other collection care duties.
Update and maintain Environmental Health and Safety forms and documentation for CCC staff.
Serve on disaster response and recovery team as needed in the event of materials emergency.
Engage in other departmental duties as assigned to support preservation activities and mandates.
Respond to inquiries and referrals from library staff regarding collections care, prioritizing items where collections care issues may interfere with patron access.
Acts as primary contact and manager for the departmental website. Updates information on staff, interns, events, and resources. Monitors the LIB-Pres-Cons email account and responds to inquiries.
Engage in relevant library or university-wide activities and committees.
Participate in additional responsibilities such as monitoring listservs, attending department meetings, training, or staff development sessions.