Chief Librarian, Victoria University Library

**POSITION**: Chief Librarian, Victoria University Library
**CLOSING DATE**: February 28, 2025
THE OPPORTUNITY
Victoria University, federated with the University of Toronto, seeks a visionary, knowledgeable, and experienced library leader for the position of Chief Librarian. The Chief Librarian, Victoria University, will lead a staff complement that includes twenty-four FTE, including seven librarians, eleven library and systems technicians, and a conservator.
Inclusive, innovative, and collegial, Victoria University’s Chief Librarian will set library-specific objectives; shape campus-wide strategy; and create data-informed plans for budget, space, and human resources. They will promote a user-centered approach to library services; cultivate a culture of metric-based assessment and continuous improvement; and coordinate the delivery of outstanding programs and resources that advance Victoria University’s teaching, research, and student engagement goals, including Vic U’s commitments to equity and truth and reconciliation.
The Chief Librarian will also build strong, reciprocal relationships, including with donors, alumni, and community members; represent the campus and university on major professional associations; and practice a form of generous, collaborative leadership, which encourages staff to take chances, develop professionally, and experiment with new ideas.
The Chief Librarian serves on both the senior administrative management team at Victoria University and various committees of University of Toronto Libraries. They report directly to the President of Victoria University and collaborate with appropriate campus libraries in the wider University of Toronto to serve the research and instructional mission of the University building on the strong foundation of past library leaders.
THE LIBRARY
Victoria University Library includes E.J. Pratt Library (serving Victoria College in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Arts and Science) and Emmanuel College Library (serving Emmanuel College in the Toronto School of Theology). Both libraries provide a range of services and resources to students, faculty, and staff. Together, they have approximately 300,000 volumes including internationally significant collections of rare books, manuscripts, archives, and art. E.J. Pratt and Emmanuel College Libraries are frequently cited by students as the best places to study on campus, where staff are friendly and helpful.
COLLECTIONS
Victoria University Library stewards numerous distinguished collections. Highlights from our special collections include, materials by and about E.J. Pratt, Northrop Frye, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Blake, Virginia Woolf /Hogarth Press/ Bloomsbury, John Wesley, and Peter Jones/Kahkewaquonaby.
In addition to special collections, Victoria’s library is also home to the Victoria University Archives. With holdings that date back to the 1830s, the archive is focused on acquiring, preserving, and making available the University’s administrative records that document Victoria’s long history of educating, as well as providing records management services to Victoria staff and faculty.
The current art collection numbers roughly 1000 works, partially displayed in public and office spaces across the Victoria University campus. The art collection supports both the history and teaching goals of Victoria University, and includes important pieces by Group of Seven artists, historical portraits, and a growing collection of work by Indigenous artists.

**RESPONSIBILITIES**:

- Provides a strategic vision and fosters innovative programs and services to ensure that the Victoria University Library meets the evolving research and teaching needs of its communities.
- Represents and advocates for the Victoria University Library in the University of Toronto Library system at campus, university, national and international levels on relevant issues and supports a leadership role for Victoria University with a wide range of associations and stakeholders.
- Ensures the Library aligns with institutional strategies and priorities (e.g., Victoria University Strategic Framework 2021-2026, Executive Summary of the Chief Librarian's Office Five Year Review).
- Leads collaboratively and communicates effectively while supporting and mentoring professional and paraprofessional staff who are based at both the E.J. Pratt Library and Emmanuel College Library to develop shared goals and objectives.
- Fosters successful cross-departmental collaboration within Victoria University Library's unique institutional set-up whereby key responsibilities are shared across departments.
- Fosters the provision of instructional services within the university’s academic and co-curricular programs to support information and other literacy goals.
- Facilitates use of the collections for university‐wide research and teaching at the graduate (Emmanuel College) and undergraduate (Victoria College) levels.
- Understands, acquires, promotes, and pre