Critical LIS Graduate Assistant

The Barnard Library’s Critical LIS Graduate Assistant (GA) position is designed to provide current Library and Information Studies (LIS) students with the time, space, and resources to explore and deepen their critical praxis. Within a dynamic and supportive community of practice, the GA will organize and realize a concrete semester-long project that centers criticality, that is, one that “takes an ethical and political approach to library work and is concerned with exposing and questioning the historical, political, and social bases of our assumptions and practices."

Job Description:

The Barnard Library is seeking applications for a Critical LIS GA working under the supervision of the Director of Teaching, Learning, and Research Services and the Director of Collections Strategy, Access, and Engagement. 

In the 2024-2025 academic year, the Critical LIS GA will focus on collections and projects  relevant to Barnard’s upcoming Zora Neale Hurston Centennial. This multi-year Centennial celebration will examine Zora’s and Black students’ experiences at Barnard. This year’s Critical LIS project will engage collections and themes essential to the Zora’s intellectual legacy, such as Black Studies, Black Literature, and Black Feminism. The GA will work with Barnard library staff to develop a dynamic, multi-faceted, and creative project that centers critical practice. The GA will gain hands-on experience in an academic library and in particular with library exhibitions and programs. Beyond the Centennial project itself, the GA will draw on and explore the rich resources and individual expertise within Barnard’s Library and Academic Centers and the whole Columbia University Library system. The GA supervisor and other Barnard library directors will work with the GA to build a dynamic and meaningful experience together in a rich and supportive environment. The GA will participate in Collections Strategy Team and Critical Collections Community meetings, as well as network with an existing cohort of Archives Fellows.

Duration: Up to 270 hours; scheduled between December 2024 through June 30th, 2025; scheduling is flexible (but will average 1-2 days a week max.) 

Compensation: $32/hour

Skills, Qualifications & Requirements:

Applicants should:

Have a proven commitment or demonstrated success with supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion through their work, service, research, and/or teaching.

Have a demonstrated interest in academic libraries and/or special collections.

Be currently enrolled in an LIS or Archives graduate program.

Be able to work onsite at the Barnard College campus in New York City. 

Applicants with an educational background or demonstrated experience in Black Studies, Ethnic Studies, Black Literature, Gender and Sexuality Studies and/or related subjects are especially encouraged to apply. 

To apply:

Write a cover letter (max 750 words) telling us 1) your past and/or potential future contributions to promoting a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment through research, teaching, supervision, mentoring, community engagement, and/or service and 2) about your interest in critical approaches to librarianship and imagine one or more examples of how you might approach a library project critically (shelving, weeding, collection development, library exhibition, library program, etc). We are interested in your vision for crafting a project, rather than a lesson. Your ideas will give us a sense of how you are thinking about this subject and what excites you, this is not a project proposal per se. It is more important for us to get a sense of who you are, what you are hoping for from this experience, and how you think. 

In your cover letter, tell us if you are interested in receiving internship or practicum credit required for your graduate program. 

Submit a current C.V. or resume

Provide two academic or professional references

_Applications will be reviewed by a team of Barnard College staff. _

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

LocationBarnard College NYC

Compensation

$32.00/hour

Application URL or Email

Apply online here

Submit specified application materials to [email protected].