Librarian in Residence - Legal Reference and Instruction Track

Description

2025 Librarian-in-Residence: Reference and Instruction track at the Law Library of Congress, Public Services Division

The Library of Congress is now accepting applications for the 2025 Librarian in Residence (LIR) program, which is a 6-month paid full-time placement at the Library of Congress in one of eight tracks, legal reference and instruction being one of them. The program is open to students who earned or will complete their Master’s degree in library and information science from an American Library Association-accredited program between December 1, 2023 and June 14, 2025. The application period will be open until February 21, 2025.

The Law Library of Congress track is a very immersive experience. It is an excellent opportunity for an early-career librarian who intends to direct their career towards law librarianship, particularly public reference and instruction. It is also a great way to get to know what it’s like to work at the Library of Congress, the largest library in the world and the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. Mentorship is a big component of the program; the LIR is paired with a program mentor (usually a leader in the Library of Congress) and a division mentor (an experienced law librarian) and will meet regularly with both.  The program begins June 16, 2025 and ends December 12, 2025.

The Librarian-in-Residence in the Public Services Division of the Law Library is expected to work on projects, assignments, and tasks in the areas of research and reference services, collection management, and consultation/liaison services.

• “Research and reference services” includes staffing the Law Library Reading Room reference desk and responding to legal and legislative research and reference questions in person, via telephone, and electronically. The LIR will also work on developing and maintaining legal research/reference LibGuides. The LIR may work on complex legal research/reference assignments (individually and/or as part of a team).
• “Collection management” includes using standard techniques to organize and maintain collections. Representative tasks in collection management include government documents inventorying, creating finding aids and documentation for law collections, maintaining the security of the collection, ensuring proper handling of the collection, and collection assessment and review. The LIR can expect to work on collections including web archives, digitized collections, print collections, unique collections, and/or electronic databases.
• “Consultation/liaison services” includes tasks such as giving tours of the Reading Room; attending staff meetings, briefings, and tours; providing research and reference consultations by appointment; and supporting the Law Library’s instructional services and programs. The LIR may also participate in outreach efforts such as writing for the Law Library’s blog, In Custodia Legis; writing articles for the Law Library’s online publication, Global Legal Monitor; and providing legal research/reference instructional programs (individually and/or as part of a team).
• Note: This is an onsite position located in Washington DC.

Apply via USAJOBS.gov: https://www.usajobs.gov/job/830071200 

Additional information: https://www.loc.gov/item/internships/librarian-in-residence/