Dean of Libraries

Princeton University•Princeton, NJ

10d•$400,000

About The Position

Princeton University seeks an accomplished leader to serve as its next Dean of Libraries, who also holds the title of Robert H. Taylor 1930 University Librarian. A member of the President’s Cabinet, the Dean of Libraries reports to the Provost and is appointed by the President and the Board of Trustees. The Dean of Libraries advances Princeton’s research and teaching mission by overseeing and guiding a world-class academic research library system with a strong emphasis on access, preservation, and innovation. Princeton University Library is one of the world’s most prestigious research libraries, serving an academic community of approximately 9,000 students, 1,000 full-time faculty, and many visiting scholars. The Library’s extensive collections include millions of printed works, as well as archival materials, maps, prints, realia, coins and incunabula. Digital holdings are represented by primary sources such as manuscripts, archives, and rare books, and also include ephemera, data, images, electronic materials, maps, music and video. The Library’s collections grow and evolve through careful selection, acquisitions, and shaping by subject specialists and curators, gifts to the Library, and collaborative collecting programs with partner research institutions and consortia. A hub of activity for exploration and discovery, the Library is continually evolving and enhancing its contribution to the Princeton research, teaching and learning experience. The Library actively supports today’s researchers through newly designed workspaces, in-depth expertise, state-of-the-art technology, and ever-increasing access to its extraordinary physical and electronic collections. The Library has a campus-wide presence in 10 locations, including the main Harvey S. Firestone Memorial Library and the new Commons Library, which opened in fall 2025. More information can be found at http://library.princeton.edu/ .

Requirements

A distinguished record of professional accomplishment over ten or more years at a senior level within a research library setting
An advanced degree, with a preference for one in library and information science or in an academic field represented at Princeton University
A notable record of setting and achieving strategic goals
A deep understanding of the opportunities facing academic research libraries, along with a clear vision of the role libraries will play in the next decades of the 21 st century
Demonstrated success in integrating new technologies to support and improve services, build and maintain collections, and enable innovative teaching and programming
A proven record of successfully overseeing a large staff, including recruitment, talent and skill development, retention, and performance assessment and management
A proven record managing significant resources and budgets effectively
An uncompromising commitment to academic excellence, to the highest ethical standards, and to continued creation and support of a vibrant and broadly diverse community of faculty, students, and staff across the University.

Responsibilities

Facilitating strategic leadership, stewardship, and overall curatorial care for the Library’s world-renowned physical and digital collections
Working closely with fellow members of the Cabinet and the Provost’s Office to ensure that the Library’s holdings, resources, and services are forward-looking, agile, and responsive to the evolving needs of the University
Guiding the deployment of technology for continuous improvement of operations
Providing strategic and collaborative campus leadership on emerging trends and wider information policy in the research landscape, including in areas that require ongoing engagement and effective partnership with the Dean for Research, such as research data management, open access, and copyright
Leading, developing, and communicating regularly with a talented library staff of more than 350 that includes employees appointed through the Office of Human Resources, some of whom are unionized, as well as a population of academic professionals appointed through the Office of the Dean of the Faculty
Directly managing eight direct reports – five senior staff members who form the Library Strategy Council, along with three director- or executive-director-level staff from the Library Administrative Team – by cultivating a culture of strong and collaborative teamwork
Working productively and creatively with the faculty and administrative leaders of the Center for Digital Humanities, the staff of which are based in Firestone Library
Overseeing a total annual budget of more than $90 million through a data-informed and strategic approach to decision-making
Building relationships with alumni, donors and others, including the Friends of Princeton University Library, to ensure ongoing support for the Library’s collections and services
Leading an effective communications strategy to raise the profile of Princeton University Library locally, nationally and internationally.
Serving on the Board for ReCAP (Research Collections and Preservation Consortium), whose executive director and staff are Princeton University employees
Collaborating closely with peers of other leading research libraries, most notably the ReCAP partners – Columbia, Harvard, New York Public Library, and Yale – and the Ivy Plus Libraries Confederation
Representing the Library and the University on relevant professional committees and organizations.