Mara L. Thacker
Visiting South Asian Studies Librarian
International and Area Studies Library
Rm. 313 Main Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801
(217) 300-5717
Email: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
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Middle East and North African Studies Librarian
Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor of Library Administration
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Position Available:
Position available immediately. This is a 100%, twelve-month, tenure-system appointment.

Duties and Responsibilities:
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) seeks applicants for the position of Middle East and North African Studies Librarian. The candidate will have a strong commitment to user services and be responsible for developing distinctive research collections and delivering innovative instructional, research, and user services to the University and broader scholarly communities.

Position Description:
Reporting to the Head of the International and Area Studies (IAS) Library, the Middle East and North African Studies Librarian will develop collections and provide services related to the Middle East and North Africa from the ancient to the contemporary periods. The successful candidate will:

·         Provide library services for the interdisciplinary field of Middle Eastern Studies.

·         Exercise direct responsibility for building research collections in all formats and subjects from and about the Middle East and North Africa in a wide range of languages including: Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, English, and other languages of significance in the field as well as work closely with other subject specialists in the development of collections that support International and Area Studies as well as more defined disciplinary areas such as, but not limited to: History, Literature, Religion, and Sociology.

·         Manage and plan the collection budget, assess and evaluate the collection, identify appropriate vendors and sources of acquisitions, and actively support efforts to enhance bibliographic access to the collections.

·         Work with technical services personnel and other subject specialists to develop initiatives to broaden access to unique and important collections.

·         Advise collection management personnel about the management of the Library’s physical collections.

·         Actively acquire and promote both licensed and freely available digital resources.

·         Work closely with colleagues in the International and Area Studies Library as well as throughout the University Library to provide proactive research support and instructional services to faculty, students and other scholars.

·         Serve as one of the University Library’s liaisons to the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and the Center for African Studies as well as work with subject specialists to academic departments in which the faculty members are likely to have an active research and teaching interest in the Middle East and North Africa.
Environment:
The University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign is one of the preeminent research libraries in the world. With more than 13 million volumes and significant digital resources, it ranks second in size among academic research libraries in the United States and first among public university libraries in the world. As the intellectual heart of the campus, the Library is committed to maintaining the strongest possible collections and services and engaging in research and development activities in pursuit of the University's mission of teaching, scholarship, and public service. The Library currently employs approximately 90 faculty and 300 academic professionals, staff, and graduate assistants. With significant funding in support of a new supercomputing center, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked second in 2010 among institutions receiving National Science Foundation funding and received over $76-million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, as well. The University Library is committed to providing biomedical information resources and services to support the campus' strategic growth in this area. For more detailed information, please visit http://www.library.illinois.edu.
The Library consists of multiple departmental libraries located across campus, as well as an array of central public, technical, and administrative service units. The Library also encompasses a variety of virtual service points and "embedded librarian" programs. The International and Area Studies Library is the University of Illinois’ gateway to information and scholarship related to area, international, and global studies, connecting students and scholars to the knowledge crucial to developing global competencies through the study of distinct nations and regions, as well as transnational issues and global concerns. The Library supports area studies research and fosters opportunities for cross-regional and interdisciplinary through collaboration and coordination among the Library’s area and international studies specialists.
Established in 2011, this new unit provides a single, physical service point and Web presence for Library users whose needs span multiple regions of the world. In total, the IAS collection consists of over 1.8 million volumes in over  on Africa, East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia, and Slavic & East Europe with thematic collections focused on Global Studies and European Union Studies.
 Qualifications:
Required Qualifications

·         ALA-accredited Master's degree or equivalent AND graduate coursework in a humanities or social sciences discipline with emphasis on the Middle East and North Africa,

OR

·         A graduate degree in a humanities or social sciences discipline with emphasis on the Middle East and North Africa AND at least one year of professional or pre-professional employment in a research library;

·         Reading and writing fluency in Arabic;

·         Excellent oral and written English language skills;

·         Strong commitment to user services.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience with collection development, research assistance, and/or instruction in an academic or research library setting; ; Experience selecting and acquiring Arabic language materials; Experience managing publisher and vendor relationships: Reading knowledge of Persian, Hebrew, Turkish, French, or other languages relevant to the study of the contemporary Middle East or North Africa; Experience in building digital collections; Experience in following trends in technology, scholarly communications, and other developments relevant to a changing library environment; Ability to conduct classroom instruction; Demonstrated success in developing outreach initiatives for an academic audience; Ability to create positive relations with faculty, students, donors, and support groups; Evidence of understanding of key issues, ideas, and approach; Ability to work in a collaborative environment.

Salary and Rank:
Salary commensurate with credentials and experience. Library faculty members are partners with other academic faculty in the pursuit of the University's goals for instruction, research, and service. Library faculty have an obligation to remain professionally informed, to pursue the discovery of new knowledge related to their field of expertise, to disseminate the results of their scholarly work, and to seek opportunities for service to the Library, campus, state, nation and profession. Library faculty are governed by University statements on review and promotion found in Article IX of the Statutes, and in Provost's Communication No. 9 http://provost.illinois.edu/communication/09/index.html and Provost's Communication No. 13 http://provost.illinois.edu/communication/13/index.html.
Terms of Appointment:
Twelve-month appointment; 24 work days' vacation per year; 11 paid holidays; 12 days annual sick leave (cumulative up to a maximum of 240 days) plus an additional 13 days (non-cumulative) per year if necessary; health insurance, requiring a small co-payment, is provided to employees (coverage for dependents may be purchased); participation in the State Universities Retirement System is required upon appointment (8% of member's salary is withheld and is tax exempt until retirement); newly hired university employees are covered by the Medicare portion of Social Security, and are subject to its deduction.

Campus and Community:
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a comprehensive and major public land-grant university (Doctoral/Research University-Extensive) that is ranked among the best in the world. Chartered in 1867, it provides undergraduate and graduate education in more than 150 fields of study, conducts theoretical and applied research, and provides public service to the state and the nation. It employs 3,000 faculty members who serve 31,000 undergraduates and 12,000 graduate and professional students; approximately 25% of faculty receives campus-wide recognition each year for excellence in teaching. More information about the campus is available at www.illinois.edu. The University is located in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana, which have a combined population of 100,000 and are situated about 140 miles south of Chicago, 120 miles west of Indianapolis, and 170 northeast of St. Louis. The University and its surrounding communities offer a cultural and recreational environment ideally suited to the work of a major research institution. For more information about the community, visit: http://illinois.edu/about/community/community.html or http://www.ccchamber.org/.

To Apply:
To ensure full consideration, please complete your candidate profile at https://jobs.illinois.edu and upload a letter of interest, resume, and contact information including email addresses for three professional references. Applications not submitted through this website will not be considered. For questions, please call: 217-333-8169.

Deadline:
In order to ensure full consideration, applications and nominations must be received by June 11, 2012. Interviews may occur before the closing date; however, no decisions will be made prior to the closing date.

Illinois is an Affirmative Action /Equal Opportunity Employer and welcomes individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ideas who embrace and value diversity and inclusivity.
www.inclusiveillinois.illinois.edu