Director and Curator, Special Collections and Archives

Reporting to the Dean of the Library, the Director and Curator of Special Collections provides leadership, vision, and budget oversight for Middlebury’s special collections, including its rare book and manuscript collections, college archives, records management, library-wide conservation and disaster recovery, library exhibitions, hands-on teaching with primary sources, research services, and donor development. The Director and Curator of Special Collections serves on the Library Administration Team and plays a key leadership role in library planning and implementation of the library’s strategic initiatives.

Applicants should apply by March 23, 2026

This is a full-time, benefits eligible, salaried position with a hiring range of $88,197 - $103,347 per year.

Core Responsibilities:

• Forge strong ties with faculty to advance the use of Special Collections as a vibrant and active part of the curriculum — design and lead instruction sessions that teach students how to analyze, interrogate, and integrate primary sources into their scholarship, curate compelling exhibitions (physical and digital), and host lectures or workshops that bring the diversity of Middlebury’s Special Collections to life.
• Lead the acquisition of rare books, manuscripts, and archival materials, with an emphasis on teaching, learning, and research across Middlebury’s undergraduate and graduate programs.
• Work with stakeholders in and beyond Middlebury to articulate an inclusive and compelling vision for Special Collections including responsibility of departmental budgets, endowed and gift funds, grants, and staffing.
• Supervise a team of librarians, archivists, library staff, and students responsible for managing and preserving invaluable library collections that span thousands of years of global cultural heritage.
• Provide leadership and expertise across analog and digital collections including bibliographic data in MARC and XML formats, content management and digital preservation systems, data visualization, web archiving, and emerging tools.
• Collaborate with staff across the library to establish best practices for reference services, research consultations, acquisitions, metadata description, preservation, conservation, security, and access to special collections across all formats.
• Cultivate donor relationships to advance library and department initiatives, build endowments and fund collection development, processing work, physical spaces, and research programs.
• Represent Special Collections on the Library Administration Team and play a key leadership role in library planning, strategic initiatives, and serve to strengthen and build local, consortial, and professional connections that extend the Libraries impact.

Requirements:
• MLS/MLIS from an ALA-accredited program (or international equivalent)
• Five to seven years of progressively responsible professional experience in special collections including a minimum of three years of management, supervision, and mentoring staff
• Ability to articulate vision for the value of special collections and archives to learning, research, teaching, and broad community engagement to students, faculty, administrators, and alumni
• Broad understanding of the history of the book, manuscript studies, the rare book trade, and archives management
• Demonstrated excellence in teaching, publications, exhibition curation and design, and public programming
• Demonstrated expertise cultivating donor relations, drafting legal deeds of gift and purchase agreements, acting in accordance with legal and ethical considerations for provenance, international export guidelines, intellectual property rights, and privacy concerns
• Demonstrated expertise in collection development and management, including digitized and born-digital materials, textual and non-textual formats, photographs, audio recordings, video recordings, and dynamic digital files

Physical Demands and Working Conditions:

• This is a full-time, on-campus position with the possibility of occasional remote work
• Occasional lifting up to 50 pounds and load, unload, and maneuver book trucks
• Frequently stand, sit, squat, bend and climb up and down ladders and step stools
• Occasionally lift objects above shoulders or over the head
• Occasionally work in areas prone to dust or mold with appropriate personal protective equipment

Other:

An offer for this position is contingent upon successful completion of a criminal background check and references.

Benefits:
As an employee of Middlebury College in Vermont, you will enjoy being part of a vibrant supportive community.

Middlebury offers its employees excellent compensation and competitive health, dental, life, disability, generous retirement matching, and vision benefits, and a generous time-away program - up to 34 days per year, increasing as the term of service lengthens. Employees are eligible for robust educational assistance programs. The result is a very high quality-of-life in a gorgeous setting. Middlebury Colleges offers its employees excellent compensation and other perks of employment including:

• MiddCard Privileges: access to athletic facilities, discounts at the college store, library privileges, and cultural and sporting events. Spouses or domestic partners are eligible to receive a card with the same privileges.
• Discounts on season passes at Middlebury College's Snow Bowl, the Ralph Myhre Golf Course and the Rikert Outdoor Center.
• Access to our Partner Inclusion Program that provides comprehensive support services to the spouses and partners of Middlebury employees.
• A full listing of our benefit offerings can be found on our website or click to see some of the other fun perks of working at Middlebury, whether in Middlebury, VT or Monterey, CA!

Middlebury College is an equal-opportunity employer where diversity, equity, and inclusion are core values. To this end, the College recruits talented and diverse faculty, staff, and students from across the United States and around the world. Middlebury College encourages applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, and members of other protected classes and historically underrepresented communities. The College also invites applications from individuals who demonstrate an ongoing commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.