Subject Librarian for East Asian Languages and Cultures (Hybrid) - University Libraries

About this role

Location ST. LOUIS, MO 63130

 Scheduled Hours 37.5

Position Summary The East Asian Languages and Cultures Subject Librarian is a part of the Arts and Area Studies cohort within the Research and Academic Collaboration Services Division in the WashU Libraries. This role is housed in the East Asian Library, one of three departmental libraries on the Danforth Campus. The Subject Librarian is responsible for providing outreach to the East Asian Languages and Culture Department, which encompasses the three linguistic traditions - Chinese, Japanese, Korean - and transcultural or multi-disciplinary studies. This role is primarily responsible for serving Korean and Japanese faculty, students, and collections.

As part of the Arts and Area Studies cohort, this role serves as a subject librarian to disciplines, departments, and/or schools as assigned, collaborates with other members of Arts and Area Studies to serve shared subject areas, provides reference services in the East Asian Library, and provides information literacy instruction for the College Writing program and discipline-specific courses. This role is responsible for collection development of materials in a variety of formats to support department curriculum, research, and teaching, specifically Korean and Japanese. Additionally, this role serves on a RACS functional team to support strategic initiatives and programs across the RACS division.

Job Description

Primary Duties & Responsibilities:

Research

• Provides research services through email, chat, virtual, and in-person individual/group consultations • Teaches patrons how to choose, evaluate, and use tools relevant to their research needs including databases, citation management tools, and AI powered tools. • Seeks opportunities to extend research services through embedded work and outreach. • Refers patrons to other librarians, library staff, and campus stakeholders as appropriate.

• Develops and enhances reference skills through active participation in reference development programing and reflection.

Teaching and Learnin g

• Designs, delivers, and assesses information literacy instruction in assigned subject areas and the College Writing program.  • Works with departments to integrate multiple literacies into curriculum and instruction, including information literacy, AI literacy, visual literacy, and data literacy, where appropriate.  • Designs and assesses effective online learning objects, including working with faculty to integrate library content into the campus learning management system.  • Develops and enhances teaching skills through active participation in library instruction development programming and reflection. 

Collection Development

• Develops and maintains subject-specific collection policies. 

• Manages, assesses, and maintains allocated collection budgets, approval plans, and physical and digital materials in assigned subject areas. 

• Engages with departmental faculty, students, and staff as necessary to inform collection development work.  

• In consultation with the East Asian Librarian and others within the libraries, plan, write, and manage grant proposals for developing collections in assigned areas. • In cooperation with other library departments, manage specialized vendor relations.

• Collaborating with other areas in the libraries to ensure successful ordering and cataloging of assigned collections, reviewing outsourced records and assisting with in-house cataloging of East Asian Library materials.

• Maintains knowledge and an awareness of the trend of publishing industries and electronic resources in East Asian languages and cultures.

Outreach and Collaboration

• Liaises with departmental stakeholders in assigned subject areas, acting as a primary point of contact for faculty and students and proactively promoting library services, expertise, and resources.  

• Maintains a deep understanding of all patron-facing library units to facilitate seamless service delivery, collaborating with these units and lending subject expertise where appropriate.  • Works closely with RACS colleagues through participation on functional teams to advance division-wide priorities and initiatives.  • Maintains awareness of university-wide initiatives, including AI literacy programming, participating as appropriate. 

Professional Development

• Participates in library and/or subject-related professional organizations and committees.   • Attends or participates in conferences, webinars, and trainings to stay current on librarianship and subject areas.  • Promotes the WashU Libraries to the University and St. Louis community through participation in committees and projects. 

Other Duties as Assigned

• Assists with the daily operations of the East Asian Library.

Working Conditions: Job Location/Working Conditions • Normal office environment. • Occasional travel to other WUSTL locations. • Must be able to work in an environment containing possible dust and mold. • Some off-campus travel may be required in support of professional development or as part of assigned job duties.

Physical Effort • Typically sitting at a desk or table. • Repetitive wrist, hand or finger movement. • Occasional lifting (25 – 50 lbs).

Equipment • Office equipment.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by the personnel so classified. Management reserves the right to revise or amend duties at any time.

Required Qualifications

Education: Master’s degree or combination of education and/or experience may substitute for minimum education. Certifications /Professional Licenses : No specific certification/professional license is required for this position.

Work Experience: Relevant Experience (2 Years) Skills: Not Applicable Driver's License: A driver's license is not required for this position.

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