Reader Services Coordinator

At The Huntington, we believe that having a team of diverse backgrounds and voices working together will enable us to support and promote the appreciation of the humanities, the arts, and botanical science. The Huntington is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing employment opportunities regardless of race, religious creed, color, national origin, disability, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal law.

Founded in 1919, The Huntington is a collections-based research and educational institution open to the public, housing world-class library, art, and botanical collections. Its mission is to support research and promote education in the arts, humanities, and botanical science and to display and interpret its extraordinary resources for diverse audiences.

Here we are committed to the highest of standards in all that we do – from preserving and protecting the collections, to exhibitions, educational and scholarly programming, visitor and reader services, and beyond.  Achieving excellence across these pursuits requires a diversity of perspectives, expertise, experience, and methodologies. 

At The Huntington, our organizational Culture is shaped by the following core values: Intellectual curiosity, Collaboration, Stewardship, Belonging, and Integrity.

• Intellectual Curiosity: Knowledge, lifelong learning, and a spirit of inquiry are at the core of our mission and organizational culture.

• Collaboration: Teamwork and a collaborative attitude are important at all levels of The Huntington. We foster relationships internally among our departments and externally with organizations throughout the community.

• Stewardship: We are committed to the care and development of our collections, our financial and physical resources, our staff, and our community.

• Belonging: We strive to attract and maintain a workforce of individuals with diverse talents, backgrounds, and perspectives. Our organizational culture promotes a sense of welcome, inclusion, and connection.

• Integrity: We value respect and honesty, working to fulfill our mission with honor and ethical principles.

About the Role

The Reader Services Coordinator supports the daily operations of the Reader Services office, with primary responsibility for on-desk reader registration and orientation. Works in a front-facing environment with frequent contact with readers, research fellows, staff, and other departments. Provides welcoming and equitable access to library services and helps readers navigate library policies, systems, spaces, and research resources. The Reader Services Coordinator will effectively support staff and researchers from a wide range of backgrounds through a welcoming, inclusive, and accessible approach.

Additional responsibilities include interlibrary loan, departmental administration and communications, peer-to peer staff training, systems support, and occasional projects. Because this position supports public-facing services, it requires a high degree of punctuality, reliability, and commitment to established schedules, including occasional evening hours. Regular hours are 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. Reports to the Assistant Access Services Librarian.

S/he/they will demonstrate a background of working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds, using a welcoming, inclusive, and accessible approach.

Essential Duties

• Provides regular Reader Registration Desk coverage, typically at least one shift each workday and up to 20 hours per week. The Registration Desk serves as the Coordinator’s primary service point; while working from the adjacent Reader Services office, Coordinators remain available to respond to telephone calls, walk-up questions, and requests for assistance from readers and staff.
• Coordinates reader registration and orientation services, including appointments, applications and renewals, library cards, and reader accounts. Responds to inquiries regarding library access, policies, services, spaces, and research resources; provides introductory research assistance and appropriate referrals. Supports the onboarding and continuing library needs of Research Fellows. Independently addresses routine and moderately complex service situations and escalates issues as appropriate.
• Provides ongoing support to staff at both Library reading room service desks, including responding to complex reader questions, assisting with equipment and services, providing brief relief or coverage, and addressing other immediate service needs. May also be assigned regular service shifts in the Rothenberg General Collections Reading Room, typically up to four hours per week.
• Interlibrary Loan: Processes borrowing and lending requests using OCLC WorldShare, including communication with readers and lending institutions. Manages routine ILL workflows independently and escalates overdue materials, purchasing considerations, and other exceptions according to established procedures.
• Department Operations & Administration: Maintains Reader Services calendars, departmental procedures, service documentation, and operational resources. Compiles service statistics, records meeting minutes, coordinates approved office-supply requests, and provides other administrative and departmental support.
• Communications & Reader-Facing Information: Prepares Reader Services newsletters and e-blasts and maintains reader-facing information across LibGuides, calendars, Aeon, LibAnswers, LibCal, signage, and other designated platforms. Drafts, reviews, and updates informational content using established standards and approval processes.
• Training & Systems Support: Participates in onboarding and training staff assigned to Reader Registration and provides day-to-day guidance regarding Reader Services procedures and systems. Troubleshoots routine issues involving reader accounts, Aeon, Cardea, LibApps, printers, badging equipment, and other departmental technology and escalates unresolved issues appropriately.
• Projects, Programs & Other Support: Participates in tours, presentations, programs, systems and web-interface updates, testing, process improvement, and other special projects. Provides backup support for essential Library services and performs other related duties as assigned.May perform other related duties as assigned

Candidate Requirements and Experience

Knowledge, skills, and abilities:

• Demonstrated ability to provide welcoming, professional, and tactful service in a front-facing environment and to communicate effectively with readers, staff, and the public.
• Strong organizational, clerical, written communication, and attention-to-detail skills; ability to exercise sound judgment, independently resolve routine service issues, manage competing priorities, and recognize when escalation is appropriate.
• Ability to assist and instruct users in navigating library services and research resources. Familiarity with library catalogs, finding aids, bibliographic searching, or similar information-discovery tools.
• Demonstrated comfort learning and working across multiple technology platforms. Familiarity with library, access control, scheduling, communication, or similar systems highly desired.
• Ability to retrieve and prepare data from multiple systems for departmental reporting. Experience with common office applications such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat.
• Two or more years of relevant customer service, library, administrative, clerical, or related experience.

Preferred:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• Experience in a library, archives, museum, academic, research, or cultural-heritage environment.
• Familiarity with HTML/web-content editing, GitHub or version-control workflows, integrated library systems, Aeon, OCLC WorldShare, LibApps, or comparable platforms.

Working Conditions  

• Regular hours are 8:30am- 5:00pm.  
• Library and office environments. Much of work is done at a computer.

Compensation & Benefits

We provide competitive compensation, generous benefits and perks for all eligible employees including:

• Pay Rate: $25.00/hr.
• Medical, Dental, Vision 
• 403(b) retirement plan and matching retirement plan with an outstanding employer match
• Considerable paid time off, including annual leave, sick leave, and holidays
• Discounts for staff in The Huntington Store and restaurants
• Free admission to various museums and cultural institutions
• Free passes each month to welcome family and friends to visit the grounds

The Application Process

Please submit a cover letter and CV/resume as a single PDF attachment. 

You will have the opportunity to submit additional documents on the “My Experience” section of the application.