Job Description

Job Tittle: Special Collections Librarian for Book Science (Librarian III; CLTA)  

Date Posted: 04/29/2025

Closing Date: 05/29/2025

Req ID: 42627

Job Category: Librarian - Contractually Limited Term Appointment

Faculty/Division:  Library 

Department: Rare Books & Spec Collect

Campus: St. George (Downtown Toronto)  

Are you looking for challenging, meaningful work in a supportive and diverse environment? Are you looking for a career at one of Canada’s top employers? Work where the world comes to think, discover and learn. Consider a career at the University of Toronto.

About the University of Toronto Libraries

The University of Toronto Libraries system is the largest academic library in Canada and is consistently ranked in the top ten among academic research libraries in North America. The system consists of 40 libraries located on three university campuses: St. George, Mississauga, and Scarborough. This array of college libraries, special collections, and specialized libraries and information centres supports the teaching and research requirements of over 300 graduate programs, more than 70 professional programs, and about 700 undergraduate degree programs. In addition to more than 12 million volumes in 341 languages, the library system currently provides access to millions of electronic resources in various forms and over 31,000 linear metres of archival material. More than 150,000 new print volumes are acquired each year. The Libraries' data centre houses more than 600 servers with a storage capacity of 1.5 petabytes.

The Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is home to one of the largest repositories of publicly accessible rare books, special collections, and archives in Canada. The print, manuscript, and archival collections are many and varied, reflecting the wide diversity of teaching and research conducted at the University of Toronto. The Fisher Library holds materials ranging from ancient papyrus fragments to contemporary artists’ books, with many manuscript and print traditions from around the world strongly represented. The extensive archival collections focus on the papers of Canadian authors and cultural figures. Areas of strength include Canadian history and literature, European literature and philosophy, Hebraica and Judaica, Theology, the history and art of the book, the history of science and medicine, history of leftist politics, labour, and social movements, Latin American studies, and Islamic manuscripts. 

The Library provides research support and collections services to interdisciplinary projects fostering new scientific and global approaches to medieval book history and literary studies; digital text editing and computational approaches to humanities research; and library and archival methods. Book Science projects are interdisciplinary collaborations that surface hidden aspects of books’ histories, materials, structures, texts, and accretions over time through the application of technologies and methods developed in the natural, computational, conservation and other sciences. Examples might include the use of multispectral imaging to recover faded or erased text in a water-damaged manuscript; the collection of loose peptides from the surface of a page to determine the animal species of a parchment document using mass spectrometry; the use of micro-computed tomography to study a book’s internal structure; spectral analyses to characterize the chemical signatures of a range of inks and pigments; or the training of a machine learning algorithm to read a digitized document written in an under-resourced language. 

Position description: 

The University of Toronto Libraries seeks a highly organized, flexible, and innovative Special Collections Librarian to work in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library to support various Book Science projects, including the Mark Andrews Hub for Book Science and the Hidden Stories Project and ITS at the University of Toronto Libraries. The successful candidate will report to the Head of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, and will work collaboratively with a team of archivists, librarians, and staff.  

The Special Collections Librarian for Book Science will be responsible for developing and coordinating services, communications, and outreach in support of current scientific and digital scholarly projects for a wide range of researchers, scholars, scientists, and technical staff involved in Book Science. Acting as a project liaison and coordinator for Book Science within the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, the incumbent will oversee the planning and execution of scalable and sustainable digital and scientific projects, documentation, and procedures designed to advance Book Science scholarship and practice, both in the library and in support of ongoing initiatives across the University of Toronto. 

Key responsibilities: 

• Provide leadership in setting project goals and timelines in close consultation with project participants. 
• Coordinate project planning and execution, ensuring that technical project specifications and requirements meet objectives.  
• Create and maintain ongoing project documentation and communications initiatives for project partners and collaborators. 
• Oversee the development of policies and services to encourage public and student engagement with Book Science initiatives. 
• Explore AI and machine learning technologies to improve internal workflows for metadata creation and web accessibility standards. 
• Assist in coordinating data and research management workflows. 
• Cultivate and maintain collaborative relationships with faculty, librarians, staff, students, donors, and members of the public.  
• Provide advanced instruction including lectures, workshops, and seminars on Book Science topics.  
• Create and update original catalogue records for print and manuscript materials in connection with the project.  
• Collaborate with organizers of upcoming library exhibitions to identify opportunities to integrate project initiatives as appropriate.  
• Work closely with archivists and librarians, as well as provide public service, research, and educational support to meet the growing needs of a diverse community of faculty, scholars, graduate and undergraduate students, and members of the public.  
• Participate in library and other committees as appropriate. 

Required Qualifications:  

• A degree from an accredited Master’s level program in library and information studies 
• Demonstrated commitment to the values of inclusivity, diversity, equity, anti-racism and accessibility 
• Demonstrated experience and knowledge of digital project management in a library setting 
• Relevant technical skills, including facility with web technologies, applicable data and metadata standards, and open-source repository and data curation frameworks 
• Familiarity with best practices in information design for the production of scholarly digital projects 
• Demonstrated experience and knowledge of special collections librarianship with a strong user focus 
• Excellent oral and written communication skills 
• Strong organizational skills and an ability to manage multiple concurrent projects 
• A strongly collaborative team orientation 
• Demonstrated experience in working effectively and innovatively in teams that encompass a range of professional roles and knowledge to produce effective and creative technical solutions to develop innovative resources  
• Demonstrated experience in working effectively in a fluid and fast-paced environment 
• Demonstrated understanding of the role of technology in library services and how technological choices and policies impact diverse user communities 
• Instruction and curriculum development experience and skills 
• Technical writing and documentation skills 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Educational background in the humanities 
• Experience in developing grant applications and managing grant-funded work  
• Project management qualifications and supervisory experience  
• Experience in technical project management 
• Familiarity with concepts important to user groups such as scholarly communications, research data management, instructional technology, open access and/or effective and ethical use of AI 

Salary and Terms of Appointment:  

It is anticipated that this position will be filled at the Librarian III level, subject to review and experience. Minimum salary: LIB III: $102,023 (Salary is dependent on rank at hire and qualifications)

This appointment is for a two-year contract with an anticipated start date of June 1, 2025.
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Benefits: We offer generous benefits packages to all employees. Additional information is available at:

Additional information:

Librarians at the University of Toronto are members of the University of Toronto Faculty Association. 

How to Apply:

Application Materials Required: A cover letter, curriculum vitae, and contact information for three references of which at least two have supervised your work. Please attach a single electronic file into the “Resume” Field. (MS Word or pdf) with a file name convention of Surname, FirstName, 42627.

The University of Toronto Libraries thanks all applicants but will only contact applicants selected for an interview. 

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This search aligns with the University’s commitment to strategically and proactively promote diversity among our community members ( Statement on Equity, Diversity & Excellence ). Recognizing that Black, Indigenous, and other Racialized communities have experienced inequities that have developed historically and are ongoing, we strongly welcome and encourage candidates from those communities to apply.

University of Toronto Libraries’ Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Statement:  

University of Toronto Libraries' Anti-Racism Statement:

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