A dynamic organization devoted to library services for the East Asian studies communities in North America since 1958.

University of Toronto: Richard Charles Lee Chinese Canadian Collections Librarian

POSITION: Richard Charles Lee Chinese Canadian Collections Librarian, Librarian I/II

DEPARTMENT: University of Toronto Libraries

DATE REQUIRED: ASAP

Are you looking for challenging, meaningful work in a supportive and diverse environment? Are you looking for a career at one of Canada’s top employers? Work where the world comes to think, discover and learn. Consider a career at the University of Toronto.

About the University of Toronto Libraries

The University of Toronto Libraries (UTL) system is the largest academic library in Canada and is consistently ranked among the top-10 research libraries in North America. The system consists of over 40 libraries located on three university campuses: St. George, Mississauga, and Scarborough. This array of college libraries, special collections, and specialized libraries and information centres supports the teaching and research requirements of more than 700 undergraduate degree programs and over 280 graduate programs, including over 60 professional programs, and. In addition to more than 15 million print volumes, the library system currently provides access to millions of electronic resources in various forms and over 31,000 linear metres of archival material. More than 150,000 new items are acquired each year. The Libraries’ data centre houses more than 500 physical and virtual servers and more than a petabyte of data.

The Opportunity

The University of Toronto Libraries seeks an energetic, innovative, creative, and service oriented librarian to serve as the Library’s Richard Charles Lee Chinese Canadian Collections Librarian. Reporting to the Associate Chief Librarian for Special Collections, the incumbent will build on our existing strong collections in Hong Kong and East Asian studies (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and Tibetan studies) as well as important Chinese print, ephemera, and manuscript collections in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library to create a collection documenting the experiences of Chinese immigrants to Canada and the Chinese Canadian community. The Richard Charles Lee Chinese Canadian Collections Librarian will work collaboratively with colleagues in the Richard Charles Lee Canada Hong Kong Library, the Cheng Yu Tung East Asian Library, the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, and the Media Commons in Robarts Library.

The successful candidate will:

  • Solicit and build collections strategically in the area of study in partnership with faculty
  • Acquire from the Chinese Canadian community film, broadcast, photographic and oral history and other media and manuscript of historic significance as cultural records
  • Engage the Greater Toronto Area and Ontario Chinese Canadian communities that seek institutional support to preserve the communities’ documentary history
  • Devise and carry out community engagement programming, aimed at building collections
  • Initiate work in oral history collections and preservation
  • Create metadata to enable discovery for learning and research
  • Process, preserve and conserve collections in various formats including digital
  • Organize large scale digitization initiatives to make collections available to scholars worldwide
  • Supervise graduate student library assistants to achieve programmatic goals
  • Liaise with faculty and graduate students in Chinese, Chinese Diaspora and Chinese Canadian Studies
  • Provide a range of public services including advanced reference and instruction
  • Forge relationships for collaboration with other institutions engaged in complementary work, including other campus special collections, such as Toronto Public Library, the University of British Columbia, as well as Library and Archives Canada
  • Participate in development activities in support of the Libraries, including representing the University of Toronto at appropriate national and international meetings, fundraising, and grant writing
  • Encourage and cultivate close relations with colleagues in the field, and with donors of funds and materials relating to the Chinese Canadian Studies collections
  • Participate in library and other committees as appropriate.

Required Qualifications

  • A degree from an accredited Master’s level program in library and information studies
  • High level of professional competency in written Chinese
  • Fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin
  • Knowledge of Pinyin Romanization systems
  • Demonstrated knowledge of and ability to apply printed/manuscripts processing and cataloguing and/or metadata
  • Outstanding interpersonal, organizational, presentation, and communication
  • Demonstrated ability to work effectively, as part of a team and independently, in a culturally diverse environment
  • Self-motivated and detail-oriented, with good team-building skills, and a strong service orientation
  • Demonstrated flexibility, creativity and ability to innovate and adapt to a changing environment
  • Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

  • Reading knowledge of classical Chinese
  • Knowledge of standard archival practice

Salary and Terms of Appointment

This is a permanent status stream appointment to be hired at the Librarian I/II rank. Rank and salary will be commensurate with experience and academic/professional qualifications.

NOTE: Librarians at the University of Toronto are members of the University of Toronto Faculty Association.

Application Materials Required: A cover letter, curriculum vitae, and contact information for three references of which at least two have supervised your work. Please send a single electronic file (MS Word or pdf) with a file name convention of [Surname, FirstName.CHKLCollections] to Library Human Resources at utlhr@utoronto.ca; or to Room 1140, 130 St. George Street, University of Toronto Libraries, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A5; or by fax to (416) 946-5543 by June 9, 2019.

The University of Toronto is strongly committed to diversity within its community and especially welcomes applications from racialized persons / persons of colour, women, Indigenous / Aboriginal People of North America, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ persons, and others who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

The University strives to be an equitable and inclusive community, and proactively seeks to increase diversity among its community members. Our values regarding equity and diversity are linked with our unwavering commitment to excellence in the pursuit of our academic mission. The University is committed to the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). As such, we strive to make our recruitment, assessment and selection processes as accessible as possible and provide accommodations as required for applicants with disabilities. If you require any accommodations at any point during the application and hiring process, please contact utlhr@utoronto.ca

The University of Toronto Libraries thanks all applicants but will only contact applicants selected for an interview.

University of Toronto Library System: https://onesearch.library.utoronto.ca/

University of Toronto: http://www.hrandequity.utoronto.ca/

Policies for librarians: http://policies.hrandequity.utoronto.ca/#FacultyLibrarians