Manager, Acquisitions and Cataloguing
The Organization:
The Toronto Public Library is North America’s busiest urban public library system. The library employs approximately 2,200 staff who provide high quality library services to the people of Toronto across 100 public locations. The Library organization is an independent
Board of the City of Toronto. Every year more than 17 million people visit our 100 branches, there are more than 28 million visits to our website and over 30 million items are borrowed. Over 72% of Torontonians use the library and 1.2 million people are registered
Library cardholders. Collections comprise over 9 million items including books, eBooks and DVDs, with 40 languages represented in the diverse library materials.
The Background:
The Manager, Acquisitions and Cataloguing directs operations in the Acquisitions and Cataloguing Departments of the Collections Management Division and oversees a staff of 50. Operations include the ordering, receiving and cataloguing of materials for the Library’s 100
locations and the expenditure, oversight and financial control of the $20M Library Materials Budget. In 2018, 50,000 physical titles (500,000 copies) and 60,000 electronic titles were ordered, received and catalogued and 156,000 periodical issues were checked
in. The Manager is also responsible for maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the ILS database of 2.6M records (9M items) and for working with technical staff to ensure the discoverability of collections. The Manager serves on a variety of system-wide
committees, participates in the evaluation of services and contributes to the Library’s strategic plan.
The Position:
Reporting to the Director, Collections and Membership Services, this key leadership role is responsible for planning, managing and evaluating Acquisitions and Cataloguing operations and services, working closely with the Collections Managers team, which also
includes the Collection Development, Processing and Distribution Services Managers.
Major Responsibilities:
• Plans, implements and evaluates programs and services to ensure that they meet customer needs, are cost-effective and support the organization’s strategic agenda
• Effectively communicates policies, programs and services
• Develops goals and objectives for the area of responsibility and monitors operation in relation to these goals
• Accountable for the effective management of financial and human resources
• Hires new staff, transfers, promotes, approves wage increases and performs performance evaluations
• Disciplines, terminates, participates in grievance procedures and administers collective agreements as required
• Represents the Library in appropriate community and professional organizations; promotes library services, partnerships and fund-raising initiatives
• Designs and manages performance measures for the Acquisitions and Cataloguing units
• Through continuous improvement, implements, evaluates and adjusts workflow for optimal efficiency and to meet changing customer needs
• Manages the ordering of all library materials including e-content
• Balances optimum procurement methods and sources for library materials with key selection criteria in consultation with the Collection Development Manager,
• Negotiates contracts with library materials vendors and regularly assesses those vendors’ performance
• Is accountable for the effective financial control of expenditures for the acquisition of library materials
• Provides liaison for acquisitions issues with Finance, Digital Services & Emerging Technologies and Collection Development
• Oversees the shipping, receiving and unpacking, and cataloguing of all materials
• Ensures the integrity of the acquisitions and bibliographic databases
• Responsible for serials management, including the budget, subscriptions and check in
• Ensures cataloguing and metadata standards are customer focused and optimize discovery of the Library’s rich resources on the web
• Monitors and evaluates trends, developments and technologies in the areas of acquisitions, metadata standards, cataloguing practices, authority control and digital and electronic collection management
• Assists in configuring, testing, troubleshooting, and recommending improvements in acquisitions and cataloguing/metadata workflows/functionality in the integrated library system
• Collects and analyzes a variety of complex data and information; performs statistical analysis and summarizes findings in reports, surveys or other mediums
• Participates in the selection, implementation and migration of integrated library systems, discovery layers and related technologies
The Candidate:
• Post-graduate university degree in library or information science from an accredited program preferred, or extensive related experience in the area of responsibility
• Experience in managing a team of professional and support staff, preferably in the area of responsibility
• Demonstrated ability to establish effective working relationships and collaborative work approaches with internal staff as well as external vendors and partners
• Committed to providing efficient, responsive and innovative service to clients
• Demonstrated capacity for problem solving, results orientation and creativity
• Highly developed oral and written communication skills
• Superior facilitation and interpersonal skills
• Proven ability in change leadership
• Proven project management skills
• Demonstrated experience in workflow design and continuous process improvement
• Knowledge of library technical services functions, including bibliographic utilities, authorities, acquisitions management and related technologies
• Knowledge of library discovery systems, current library-related technological practices, cataloguing principles and practices and integrated library systems
• Knowledge of budgeting and procurement principles
• A strong commitment to the vision, mission and values of Toronto Public Library and the ability to work effectively with diverse communities and in a diverse work culture.
Reporting to: Director Collections and Membership Services
Remuneration: The salary range for the above position is $110-130K plus comprehensive benefits package.
Location: Toronto
Apply: Please apply to Debra Clinton, Research Consultant, WMC at
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