Director of the Africana, Asian American, Chicano, & Native American (AAACNA) Studies Center

CSU Careers • San José, CA

3d • $112,000 - $135,000 • Onsite

About The Position

San José State University’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library seeks a full-time, tenured Associate or Full Librarian to serve as Director of the Africana, Asian American, Chicano, & Native American (AAACNA) Studies Center, beginning in February 2027. The position combines 0.6 FTE (60%) Center directorship with 0.4 FTE (40%) liaison librarian responsibilities. The Director normally serves a renewable four-year term and reports to the Associate Dean for Student and Faculty Engagement. The Director is also a member of the University Library Leadership Team and facilitates and leads the AAACNA Advisory Board.

The AAACNA Studies Center is a 6,000-square-foot academic and cultural hub on the fifth floor of the King Library. It brings together Africana, Asian American, Chicano, Native American, and comparative Ethnic Studies collections and provides research and community space. The Director provides strategic leadership for the Center’s programs, collections, services, partnerships, operations, and long-term sustainability. The role includes strengthening planning, decision-making, governance, assessment, and reporting practices, as well as advancing philanthropic support, grants, gifts, and endowments.

As a liaison librarian, the incumbent supports teaching, learning, and research through instruction, research consultations, reference services, information-resource selection, and user-centered services for assigned academic programs. SJSU librarians participate in library and university governance and engage in scholarship. The position requires an on-campus presence and may only be performed in California. Employment is contingent upon U.S. residence, eligibility to work in the United States, and satisfactory background and reference checks.

Requirements

• Master’s degree from an American Library Association-accredited program or an equivalent international degree.
• At least five years of experience as a leader developing ethnic studies services, programming, and collections.
• Demonstrated leadership providing strategic direction and advancing university library outreach and user-engagement initiatives across campus and in the broader community.
• Demonstrated success establishing and sustaining strategic partnerships with academic programs, advisory groups, cultural and community-based organizations through effective communication.
• Experience cultivating philanthropic support and securing funding for programs and endowments.
• Expertise providing instruction and research consultations across ethnic studies and interdisciplinary courses.
• Expertise developing specialized collections aligned with the AAACNA mission and areas of focus.
• Record of scholarly achievement in relevant areas of specialization, including research examining or engaging with diverse communities, populations, experiences, or perspectives.
• Awareness of and sensitivity to the educational goals of a socially and economically diverse student population, gained through cross-cultural study, training, teaching, or comparable experience.
• Ability to understand and address the needs of students diverse in age, abilities, cultural background, ethnicity, religion, economic background, primary language, sexual orientation, gender identity, and academic preparation.
• Ability to establish an on-campus presence in California; employment requires U.S. residence and proof of eligibility to work in the United States.
• Satisfactory completion of background and reference checks.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working in an academic library or comparable higher education environment.
• Experience incorporating diverse perspectives and culturally responsive practices into instruction, collections, exhibits, programs, or services.
• Demonstrated success leading significant organizational change or complex, multi-phase initiatives.
• Prior supervisory experience.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for the AAACNA Studies Center, set priorities, and advance a vision aligned with the Center’s mission and the teaching, research, and student-success goals of the University Library and SJSU.
• Plan, implement, and assess Center programs, exhibits, events, research initiatives, and other activities highlighting the histories, experiences, scholarship, and contributions represented by the Center’s focus areas.
• Guide the development, stewardship, visibility, and use of specialized collections, including opportunities to improve discovery, preservation, digitization, and access.
• Build and sustain relationships with academic departments and programs, faculty and staff associations, student organizations, campus resource centers, advisory groups, community organizations, and other partners.
• Oversee daily Center operations, including its space, budget, program calendar, policies, workflows, and allocation of resources.
• Coordinate employees, student assistants, interns, volunteers, and project teams assigned to Center activities, fostering an inclusive, collaborative, service-oriented environment.
• Establish effectiveness measures, collect and analyze data, communicate the Center’s accomplishments, and use assessment findings to guide planning and continuous improvement.
• Represent and advocate for the Center within the University Library, across SJSU, and in community and professional settings; pursue grants, gifts, endowment support, and other opportunities to strengthen programs and collections.
• Facilitate and lead the AAACNA Advisory Board, which advises the Director and supports community connections.
• Strengthen the Center’s long-term sustainability through priorities and annual work plans, clarified roles and decision-making processes, impact reporting, institutional knowledge retention, review of operating agreements and governance documents, and alignment with Library strategic priorities.
• Collaborate with Ethnic Studies and other campus faculty to support effective use of curriculum-specific information resources.
• Provide research, reference, consultation, and information-literacy instruction to undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and researchers in synchronous and asynchronous formats.
• Select, evaluate, and promote information resources in multiple formats to support assigned programs’ curricular and research needs and the Center’s specialized collections.
• Maintain knowledge of current and emerging research practices, scholarly communication, digital scholarship, and artificial intelligence technologies relevant to assigned disciplines and academic librarianship.
• Design, implement, and assess user-centered library services, instructional activities, and resources for assigned academic departments and programs.
• Participate in shared governance, including department, library, and university committees and other service assignments.
• Demonstrate awareness of and experience understanding the needs of a diverse student population through inclusive course materials, teaching strategies, and advisement.
• Complete required CSU employee training and, if designated a Campus Security Authority, complete Clery Act training and report Clery incidents as required.

Benefits

• Faculty employee benefits described as very competitive for the higher education sector; the posting refers applicants to the CSU Employee Benefits Summary for details.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior