Access Services Manager for Gutman, Ernst Mayr, and Music Libraries

About the role

The Access Services Manager is a working manager who leads Access Services operations and staff at the Monroe C. Gutman Library at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Ernst Mayr Library of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the Eda Kuhn Loeb Music Library. This role reports to the Associate Director of Access Services for Professional School Libraries.

Responsibilities

• Staff Management and Leadership
• Lead, direct, and supervise daily Access Services operations at assigned libraries, setting high patron service standards, mentoring and managing Access Services staff, and fostering a creative, collaborative, team-oriented work environment.
• Ensure units meet operational and communication expectations.
• Plans and prioritizes daily workflows for Access Services staff at assigned libraries; assigns tasks and projects to team members; and adjusts staffing as needed to meet service demands.
• Recruit, develop, coach, and performance manage team members; set clear expectations and goals, provide ongoing feedback, conduct performance reviews, address performance issues, and support employee growth and succession planning, in consultation with the Associate Director, to promote an inclusive and innovative work environment.
• Maintain regular communication with their Associate Director on team performance, staffing, workload, risks, and employee relations matters; proactively escalates issues, provides timely updates, and ensures alignment on priorities, decisions, and organizational objectives.
• Communicate regularly with timeliness, including having meetings with regular cadence, with the local leadership of the assigned libraries.
• Develop, document, and refine procedures and workflows to enhance efficiency, service quality, and user experience.
• Collaborate with reference and research librarians and/or library directors to maintain effective local referral processes.
• Aid and train staff to assist users with disabilities in accessing library spaces and materials, in coordination with appropriate University offices.
• Support and communicate guest policies and procedures to ensure equitable and consistent access.
• Manage access to onsite and offsite collections, collaborating with library directors or their designees on collection management projects.
• Manage ongoing shelving and stacks maintenance in assigned libraries to ensure materials are available, properly shelved, and in good condition.
• Coordinate shelf reading, shifting, and other stacks activities.
• Oversee staff responsible for transfers to offsite storage and ensure accurate and timely updating of item records and physical processing in accordance with Harvard Library standards.
• Manage and support on-site resource sharing activities, including processing Scan & Deliver, Borrow Direct, and Interlibrary Loan requests.
• Help troubleshoot workflow, systems, and equipment issues in collaboration with Resource Sharing staff and other units to maintain efficient and reliable service.
• Maintain patron-facing equipment, including photocopiers, scanners, self-checkout (e.g., MeeScan), book lockers, public computer workstations, public printers, microform readers, and circulating equipment (e.g., laptops, chargers, cameras, audio recorders).
• Coordinate with Library Technology Services, service owners, or vendors as needed for repairs, maintenance, and upgrades.
• Monitor building conditions in assigned libraries and coordinate with facilities operations and preservation services to address environmental issues and other problems affecting collections.
• Conduct periodic building walkthroughs to ensure a safe, accessible, and welcoming environment for all users.
• Operations Management
• Manage service points and work areas associated with circulation services.
• Ensure accurate and timely circulation desk services such as checkout, check-in, renewals, holds, recalls, etc.
• Communicate and enforce library policies and support collection security measures.
• Ensure teams are trained in and support centralized digital course reserves services for courses served by assigned libraries.
• Communicate reserves policies and procedures to students, faculty, teaching staff, and make referrals to centralized course reserves staff.
• Manage, train, and/or oversee scanning and other onsite reserves workflows based in assigned libraries.
• Provide and train staff to provide basic information support (Tier 1), answering patron questions or referring them to appropriate subject specialists or Harvard Library units.
• Collaborate with reference and research librarians and/or library directors to maintain effective local referral processes.
• Aid and train staff to assist users with disabilities in accessing library spaces and materials, in coordination with appropriate University offices.
• Support and communicate guest policies and procedures to ensure equitable and consistent access.
• Manage access to onsite and offsite collections, collaborating with library directors or their designees on collection management projects.
• Manage ongoing shelving and stacks maintenance in assigned libraries to ensure materials are available, properly shelved, and in good condition.
• Coordinate shelf reading, shifting, and other stacks activities.
• Oversee staff responsible for transfers to offsite storage and ensure accurate and timely updating of item records and physical processing in accordance with Harvard Library standards.
• Manage and support on-site resource sharing activities, including processing Scan & Deliver, Borrow Direct, and Interlibrary Loan requests.
• Help troubleshoot workflow, systems, and equipment issues in collaboration with Resource Sharing staff and other units to maintain efficient and reliable service.
• Maintain patron-facing equipment, including photocopiers, scanners, self-checkout (e.g., MeeScan), book lockers, public computer workstations, public printers, microform readers, and circulating equipment (e.g., laptops, chargers, cameras, audio recorders).
• Coordinate with Library Technology Services, service owners, or vendors as needed for repairs, maintenance, and upgrades.
• Monitor building conditions in assigned libraries and coordinate with facilities operations and preservation services to address environmental issues and other problems affecting collections.
• Conduct periodic building walkthroughs to ensure a safe, accessible, and welcoming environment for all users.
• Project Management
• Works with their Associate Director to obtain approval before initiating projects involving collections at the assigned libraries.
• Direct collection projects in assigned libraries from initiation through completion.
• Develop clear project plans, timelines, and deliverables; define scope; assign staff and student workers; and adjust workflows as needed to meet deadlines.
• Maintain and analyze project statistics and other relevant data to track progress, identify issues, and inform decisions; ensure that project tasks remain within the scope of the approved plan and are completed on time and within available resources.
• Work collaboratively across library units (e.g., Access Services locations, Information and Technology Services (ITS), collection management, and public services) to coordinate activities, align priorities, and resolve issues that affect project outcomes and user experience.
• Develop, document, and refine project-related procedures and workflows to promote consistency, efficiency, and high-quality service across locations; communicate project goals, roles, and expectations clearly to all participants.
• Provide guidance, training, and ongoing support to staff and student workers participating in projects, ensuring they understand project objectives, timelines, and standards; monitor performance and provide feedback throughout the project lifecycle.
• Communicates about the progress of the project regularly with their Associate Director and local leadership of the assigned library.
• Extended Leadership Team
• Actively participate in the Access Services Extended Leadership Team (ELT), to guide departmental priorities and decision-making in collaboration with the Senior Leadership Team (SLT).
• Contribute to strategic planning and implementation for Access Services, including the development, communication, and assessment of plans, policies, and service initiatives.
• Support and advance a positive, inclusive, and equitable work environment, fostering a sense of belonging and consistently modeling organizational values in daily operations and interactions.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Library Science (MLS/MLIS) or equivalent education or work experience required.
• Minimum of 3 years of academic library experience with a strong public service orientation.
• Minimum of 3 years of supervisory experience.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience at GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives, museum) or related organization.
• Demonstrated experience in supervision and performance management of staff, students, or contingent workers, including successful staff development.
• Record of successful collaboration in complex and/or matrixed organizations.
• Demonstrated ability in project management, including planning, communication, assessment, and delivery of complex projects.
• Demonstrated ability to make data-driven decisions.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze workflows and trends to improve service benchmarks and staff capacity.
• Demonstrated ability to set priorities, multitask, and meet deadlines.
• Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills, including effective use of multimodal communication tools.
• Flexibility, agility, and enthusiasm for working in a changing, technology-oriented environment.
• Demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging, and antiracism.
• Commitment to high-quality user experience.

Skills

• Demonstrated ability to set priorities, multitask, and meet deadlines.
• Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills, including effective use of multimodal communication tools.
• Flexibility, agility, and enthusiasm for working in a changing, technology-oriented environment.
• Demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging, and antiracism.
• Commitment to high-quality user experience.