The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), the world’s premier public university, seeks a visionary, inclusive, and strategic leader as its next University Librarian.
UC Berkeley is internationally renowned for excellence across all disciplines, for the opportunities it affords students of all backgrounds, and for scientific discovery, innovation, and cultural creativity. Ranked nationally as the No. 1 public university by U.S. News & World Report Rankings 2023, the Berkeley campus is home to more than 32,000 undergraduate students and more than 12,000 graduate students as well as approximately 1,500 ladder-rank faculty across 15 schools and colleges. Berkeley’s professors are highly distinguished researchers, scholars, and leading experts in their field as attested by their many Nobel Prizes, other distinguished awards, and memberships in the most prestigious learned societies.
UC Berkeley's Library supports the world-class teaching and cutting-edge research for which Berkeley is renowned, enriching the experience of the thousands of students who study on its campus. Comprising 22 libraries, the UC Berkeley Library has one of the world's most comprehensive academic research collections, from the trove of primary documents chronicling the West at Bancroft Library, to the collaborative and innovative spaces at the Moffitt Library, to the vast and unparalleled collections at Doe Library — a beacon of information standing in the shadow of the iconic Campanile. Together, these libraries help sustain UC Berkeley as a leading producer of knowledge. The Library holds more than 13 million volumes in its world-renowned collections. Materials include paintings, lithographs, papyri, audio and video recordings, and ephemera such as leaflets from the Free Speech Movement, a note from Helen Keller to Mark Twain in honor of his 70th birthday, and vintage costumes worn by Berkeley’s beloved mascot, Oski. The Center for Connected Learning, a "collider space" where students will have access to one-stop consultation on retrieval, evaluation, and use of advanced information resources and will acquire skills required for 21st century information literacy will soon be open in Moffitt Library.
The University Librarian (UL) serves as the Library’s chief administrative officer with overall responsibility for collection development and management; library services; budget and planning; application of emerging information technologies; personnel; fundraising, public relations; and state, national, and international cooperative efforts. The UL acts as the official representative, advocate, and intellectual leader of the Library in the context of a research-oriented, internationally recognized public land-grant university.
Reporting to the executive vice chancellor and provost, the UL is a member of the Academic Senate and serves on the Council of Deans, collaborating with campus leadership at UC Berkeley and across the University of California system. The UL also serves on the University of California Council of University Librarians and the University of California Shared Library Facilities Board, as well as with serving on other UC Berkeley and systemwide posts.
The UL will be a visionary, people-centered leader who collaborates with faculty, students, and staff on campus, across the UC system and state of California, as well as the nation, and around the world. The ideal candidate will possess administrative, budgetary, fundraising, communication, and collaborative leadership skills including successful experience in a shared governance environment, as well as demonstrated experience advancing racial and social justice and supporting diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, justice and accessibility. The UL will also be expected to continue Berkeley's national leadership role in open access.
For the full leadership profile, please visit the WittKieffer website
For more information about the UC Berkeley Library, please visit their website
Procedure for Candidacy
WittKieffer is assisting the University of California, Berkeley in this search. All applications, nominations, and inquiries are invited. Applications should include, as separate documents, a CV or resume and a letter of interest addressing the themes in this profile (Candidates selected to meet with the search advisory committee at the semi-finalist phase will be asked to submit a diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging statement).
For full consideration, candidate materials should be received no later than October 24, 2023
Applications, nominations and inquiries can be directed to Suzanne Teer, Jessica Herrington, and Cathryn Davis at BerkeleyUniversityLibrarian@wittkieffer.com.
Timeline
The University Librarian (UL) search advisory committee members were selected in July 2023. Stakeholder listening sessions are taking place from July through September to gather feedback about the skills and qualities that are needed in the next UL and about the short- and long-term priorities for this role. The full leadership profile was published in early September. Recruitment for the position will occur in September and October, and interviews will likely be conducted in November. We anticipate the hiring decision will be made early spring semester with a start date of July 2024.
Community Feedback Survey
We seek input from the campus community about this critical position. Please submit your input on this online survey. The survey should take approximately 10 minutes. It is a way for the search advisory committee and search consultants to seek input from the Berkeley community in all areas. Information gathered will help identify opportunities and challenges as well as perspectives of ideal qualities of the next University Librarian. The survey will be available throughout the search. Please note that your responses will be confidential.
University Librarian Search Advisory Committee Roster 2023
- Jennifer Johnson-Hanks, Executive Dean of the College of Letters and Science (Chair)
- Abhishek Kaicker, Associate Professor of History
- David Wilson, Dean, Goldman School of Public Policy
- Jesse Silva, Scholarly Resources Strategy and Federal Government Information Librarian; Chair of the Librarians Association of the University of California, Berkeley Division
- Jo Anne Newyear Ramirez, Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources
- José Adrián Barragán-Álvarez, Curator of Latin Americana; Vice Chair of the Librarians Association of the University of California, Berkeley Division
- Jose Marrero Rosado, Graduate Assembly Student Representative
- Katherine Yelick, Vice Chancellor for Research
- Louise Gregory, Executive Director of Development, Library
- MacKenzie Smith, University Librarian & Vice Provost, Digital Scholarship Emerita, UC Davis
- Martin Olsson, Professor, Mathematics
- Molly Van Houweling, Harold C. Hohbach Distinguished Professor of Patent Law and Intellectual Property
- Sheehan Grant, Chief Operations Manager, Arts & Humanities Division, Library
- Susan Stutzman, President of the Library Board
- Timothy Tangherlini, Professor, Danish Literature and Culture
The committee is being staffed by Andrea Lambert-Tan, Assistant Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief of Staff and Kristine Lee Wilby, Academic Affairs Manager.
The search is being supported by the search firm WittKieffer in identifying potential candidates for this critical position. Comments, inquiries, and nominations can be sent directly to WittKieffer at BerkeleyUniversityLibrarian@wittkieffer.com
For general questions about the SMG search process, please review the SMG searches FAQ