Subject Librarian for East Asian Languages and Cultures (Hybrid) - University Libraries

Washington University in St. Louis • Hadley, MO

7d • $58,400 - $99,700 • Hybrid

About The Position

The East Asian Languages and Cultures Subject Librarian is a part of the Arts and Area Studies cohort within the Research and Academic Collaboration Services Division in the WashU Libraries. This role is housed in the East Asian Library, one of three departmental libraries on the Danforth Campus. The Subject Librarian is responsible for providing outreach to the East Asian Languages and Culture Department, which encompasses the three linguistic traditions - Chinese, Japanese, Korean - and transcultural or multi-disciplinary studies. This role is primarily responsible for serving Korean and Japanese faculty, students, and collections. As part of the Arts and Area Studies cohort, this role serves as a subject librarian to disciplines, departments, and/or schools as assigned, collaborates with other members of Arts and Area Studies to serve shared subject areas, provides reference services in the East Asian Library, and provides information literacy instruction for the College Writing program and discipline-specific courses. This role is responsible for collection development of materials in a variety of formats to support department curriculum, research, and teaching, specifically Korean and Japanese. Additionally, this role serves on a RACS functional team to support strategic initiatives and programs across the RACS division.

Requirements

• Master’s degree or combination of education and/or experience may substitute for minimum education.
• Relevant Experience (2 Years)

Nice To Haves

• M.L.S. - Master of Library Science, Master's degree - East Asian Language/Culture
• Successful And Progressively Responsible In One Or More Areas Of Academic Library Services (2 Years)
• Academic Experience
• Adaptability
• Detail-Oriented
• Higher Education Research
• Interpersonal Communication
• Japanese Language
• Korean Language
• Library Services
• Oral Communications
• Problem Solving
• Special Collections
• Teamwork Orientation
• Written Communication

Responsibilities

• Provides research services through email, chat, virtual, and in-person individual/group consultations
• Teaches patrons how to choose, evaluate, and use tools relevant to their research needs including databases, citation management tools, and AI powered tools.
• Seeks opportunities to extend research services through embedded work and outreach.
• Refers patrons to other librarians, library staff, and campus stakeholders as appropriate.
• Develops and enhances reference skills through active participation in reference development programing and reflection.
• Designs, delivers, and assesses information literacy instruction in assigned subject areas and the College Writing program.
• Works with departments to integrate multiple literacies into curriculum and instruction, including information literacy, AI literacy, visual literacy, and data literacy, where appropriate.
• Designs and assesses effective online learning objects, including working with faculty to integrate library content into the campus learning management system.
• Develops and enhances teaching skills through active participation in library instruction development programming and reflection.
• Develops and maintains subject-specific collection policies.
• Manages, assesses, and maintains allocated collection budgets, approval plans, and physical and digital materials in assigned subject areas.
• Engages with departmental faculty, students, and staff as necessary to inform collection development work.
• In consultation with the East Asian Librarian and others within the libraries, plan, write, and manage grant proposals for developing collections in assigned areas.
• In cooperation with other library departments, manage specialized vendor relations.
• Collaborating with other areas in the libraries to ensure successful ordering and cataloging of assigned collections, reviewing outsourced records and assisting with in-house cataloging of East Asian Library materials.
• Maintains knowledge and an awareness of the trend of publishing industries and electronic resources in East Asian languages and cultures.
• Liaises with departmental stakeholders in assigned subject areas, acting as a primary point of contact for faculty and students and proactively promoting library services, expertise, and resources.
• Maintains a deep understanding of all patron-facing library units to facilitate seamless service delivery, collaborating with these units and lending subject expertise where appropriate.
• Works closely with RACS colleagues through participation on functional teams to advance division-wide priorities and initiatives.
• Maintains awareness of university-wide initiatives, including AI literacy programming, participating as appropriate.
• Participates in library and/or subject-related professional organizations and committees.
• Attends or participates in conferences, webinars, and trainings to stay current on librarianship and subject areas.
• Promotes the WashU Libraries to the University and St. Louis community through participation in committees and projects.
• Assists with the daily operations of the East Asian Library.

Benefits

• Up to 22 days of vacation, 10 recognized holidays, and sick time.
• Competitive health insurance packages with priority appointments and lower copays/coinsurance.
• Free Metro transit U-Pass for eligible employees.
• Defined contribution (403(b)) Retirement Savings Plan, which combines employee contributions and university contributions starting at 7%.
• Wellness challenges, annual health screenings, mental health resources, mindfulness programs and courses, employee assistance program (EAP), financial resources, access to dietitians, and more!
• 4 weeks of caregiver leave to bond with your new child.
• Family care resources are also available for your continued childcare needs.
• Adult care resources.
• Covers the cost of tuition for you and your family, including dependent undergraduate-level college tuition up to 100% at WashU and 40% elsewhere after seven years with us.

What This Job Offers

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