BENTON HARBOR PUBLIC LIBRARY LIBRARY DIRECTOR The Benton Harbor Public Library (BHPL) seeks a dynamic, empathetic, highly skilled, and effective organizational leader to fill the position of Library Director. The ideal candidate must be committed to creating a culturally relevant, community-responsive, and organizationally inclusive environment. The Library Director's central role as a leader is to ensure library services are accessible to all patrons, prioritizing equity, innovation, and community engagement using transformative, complex adaptive leadership. The library serves the City of Benton Harbor and Benton Charter Township in southwest lower Michigan. It is a Class IV library, with a diversely rich population totaling 23,396; it has an annual circulation of 29,000 and annual operating budget of $628,000. The area is considered rural but with urban characteristics, and is a popular tourist destination, with easy access to Lake Michigan. Nearby larger population centers include Kalamazoo, Michigan, and South Bend, Indiana. Chicago is a 90-mile drive west. The Library Director must possess a proven record of accomplishment in educating, leading, guiding library services, and securing the necessary funding through creative strategies that reflect excellence in service delivery, eliminate inequities, and increase access, with a focus on prioritizing the needs and prospective opportunities of historically marginalized and underrepresented patrons and members of the greater community. The Library Director must demonstrate the ability to ensure that decisions, resources, and funding allocations align with the organization's goals. The Library Director should have deeply lived experiences, skills, emotional intelligence, knowledge, and expertise necessary to provide leadership to diverse levels of organizational staff and volunteers, including the ability to provide excellent customer service. The Library Director must lead with agility, vision, and a shared sense of purpose to address and respond to evolving library services, community expectations, and funding resources. The Library Director must have a proven ability to secure, develop, and retain exceptionally talented, culturally proficient, and diverse candidates. The Library Director must have a demonstrated record of successfully initiating and leading systemic change and proven skills in building an effective team of organizational leaders who are capable, collaborative, and community-committed to propel the organization to meet the needs of patrons, in-person, online, and in the community. The Library Director must be an excellent problem identifier, effective at solutions-focused approaches, and possess exceptional interpersonal and intra-personal communication skills. The Library Director must be a socially and politically astute problem solver, able to engage and elicit support necessary to implement and sustain the organization's vision, mission, and short- and long-term goals, and have demonstrated experience in administrative fiscal and budgetary management operations. The Library Director must be adept at balancing direct duties and delegating tasks, activities, and responsibilities. The Library Director is a community-engaged position, visible to both internal and external constituents, active and involved in library-led and community events frequently attended by diverse families, demonstrating the ability to prioritize from the diverse array of activities, initiatives, and projects relevant to the greater Benton Harbor and Benton Charter Township region, and representative of events at the local, state, and national levels. The director should be digitally literate and globally aware. The Library Director must be energetic, motivated, and resilient to effectively guide and facilitate the planning, developing, programming, and evaluating the organization's operations in the shared work with patrons, staff and volunteers, Board of Trustees, governmental officials, stakeholders, and community-at-large. Primary responsibilities include identifying, recommending, co-developing, and implementing Board policies, program decisions, annual budgets/monitoring expenditures, strategic plan(s), and short-and-long-range capital improvement goals. General Summary and Purpose Statement The Library Director serves as the chief administrative employee of the Benton Harbor Public Library and reports to the Board of Trustees. This exempt position is responsible for interactions with patrons, stakeholders, and the community and ensures a welcoming, safe, and inclusive environment. The Library Director oversees library operations, provides leadership in executing the organization's vision, mission, and goals, and maintains the highest standards in delivering library services. Responsibilities and Duties include but are not limited to: • Formulates, recommends, and implements Board policies and program decisions. • Recruiting and retaining a solid library workforce • Oversight for the appropriate maintenance and upkeep of library assets, equipment, and property, inclusive of print and non-print collections • Evaluates operations and activities of the library, incorporating input, feedback, and ideas from internal/external stakeholders to make recommendations for future collections, programs/services, and the development of new opportunities • Leading the development and implementation of the strategic plan • Oversees the preparation and presentation of the annual report and prepares/submits monthly activities and financial reports on library operations to the Board of Trustees • Developing annual budgets and assisting in preparing for the annual audit • Confers with the board's legal counsel prepares and files required documents, including insurance coverage(s) and relevant licenses or certifications, and publishes required notices. • Developing and implementing short-term capital improvement plans • Upholding the library's commitment to social justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion • Serves as the organization's primary spokesperson and represents the library before the public, other libraries, and all other audiences. Qualifications • Master's degree in library science from an ALA-accredited program • Possession of a Level 1 Librarian’s Certificate from the Library of Michigan, or the ability to do so; completion of the Library of Michigan’s Advanced Director’s Workshop. • 5+ years of professional library work experience at the management level, including: o Demonstrated supervisory experience, including hiring, training, supervising, and evaluating staff and non-board volunteers o Demonstrated experience in mentoring, inspiring, and retaining the library workforce o Proven ability to prioritize work responsibilities, meet deadlines, and utilize delegation to meet the organization's operations • Demonstrated ability to identify, develop, and implement policies, plans, and initiatives to advance the organization's vision, mission, and goals • Demonstrated ability in culturally relevant and responsive community engagement strategies • Skilled in the use of computers and technology devices, the Internet, virtual meeting platforms, and integrated library technology software systems • Ability to work variable hours needed to complete the responsibilities of the Library Director, including day, evening, and weekend hours • Access to transportation Supervises: Directly supervises and evaluates department heads and administrative assistants Terms of Employment: Full-time, salaried, at-will employment; initial one-year contract (with 90-day and 6-month evaluations); to be renewed subsequent to annual evaluations by the Board of Trustees; salary and benefits to be established by the Benton Harbor Public Library Board of Trustees. Must be willing to work variable hours as required, including evening, morning, and weekend events, and for emergencies that prioritize meeting the library's needs and responsibilities. Salary: $60,000-$70,000; current benefits include paid holidays, life insurance, paid time off, and 401(k) plan. Physical Demands and Work Environments The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that an employee must meet to perform the essential functions of this position successfully. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these vital functions. • Physical demands: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to travel independently within the office and patron areas of the library and in the communities served. In the work environments described below, the position requires frequent communication with others, regular computer usage, and maintenance of stationary positions for desk work. • Work environment: Work will be performed in an office, library spaces, and the communities served. While performing the duties of this job outside of the library environment, the employee is exposed to weather conditions prevalent at the time. The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate. An Equal Opportunity Employer Equal Employment Opportunity is a core principle at the Benton Harbor Public Library, where employment opportunities, development, and advancement are based on job qualifications without discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, ancestry, veteran status, disability, height, weight, familial status, marital status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Application Procedure Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, but those received before November 22, 2024 will receive priority. Please send a cover letter, and resume or curriculum vitae, along with three professional references, to the attention of Yvette Moore, 213 E. Wall St., Benton Harbor, MI 49022 or send to bentonharborlibrary@yahoo.com. Please note Library Director in the subject line.
Paid holidays, paid time off, 401(k), life insurance
The library serves the City of Benton Harbor and Benton Charter Township in southwest lower Michigan. It is a Class IV library, with a diversely rich population totaling 23,396; it has an annual circulation of 29,000 and annual operating budget of $628,000. The area is considered rural but with urban characteristics, and is a popular tourist destination, with easy access to Lake Michigan. Nearby larger population centers include Kalamazoo, Michigan, and South Bend, Indiana. Chicago is a 90-mile drive west.
External Job Ad
https://www.bentonharborlibrary.com/about-5-1