Princeton University
East Asian Library Operations Supervisor
115 Alexander St, Princeton, NJ 08540
On-site · Full-time · $82k–$94k (as posted)
First seen by offpeak October 6, 2026
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Overview
The East Asian Library (EAL) at Princeton University is seeking a diligent, motivated, and independent individual to be the Library Operations Supervisor of its Public Services unit.
The East Asian Library is a unique library at Princeton due to its extensive and specialized collections, space limitations, and independent interlibrary loan and technical services operations. It is one of the most famous collections of its kind in the United States, serving not only faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students at Princeton on all kinds of research on China, Japan, and Korea but also, visiting scholars from across the globe.
The Operations Supervisor is fully responsible for all daily branch operations and functions of the East Asian Library, including circulation, shelving, stack maintenance, shifting, and physical space presentation, management, and security.
Responsibilities
Key Responsibilities:
- Manage branch library operations, including Course Reserves, Document Delivery, Borrow Direct, Interlibrary Loan (ILL), and the transfer of materials to off-site storage (ReCAP).
- Hire, train, and supervise two unionized staff positions (including writing evaluations and maintaining payroll) and 20+ students to ensure coverage of essential back-of-house and public service functions.
- Facilitate use of rare and special collections held on-site and off-site for library patrons.
- Perform data driven analysis to determine future space and material needs.
- Coordinate with Cataloging, Acquisitions, and Serials staff within the EAL to streamline workflows and ensure efficient circulation of materials across departments.
- Maintain and update EAL MARC records.
- Establish priorities and design workflows for both ongoing operations and special projects.
- Develop, interpret, and enforce library policies and procedures.
- Serve as the primary point of contact for patrons, including faculty, students, and external visitors, with creativity and tact.
- Participate in outreach initiatives and programs.
- Apply and adapt policies related to patron services, carrel assignments, and patron records.
- Address access and general use inquiries while referring advanced research questions to librarians.
- Oversee and continuously update staff schedules, procedural manuals, and training programs.
- Fostering a collaborative and productive work environment and motivating and guiding staff to achieve performance goals.
- Build and maintain strong cross-departmental relationships through comprehensive understanding of the library policies, procedures and interdepartmental operations.
- Participate in university library committees and working groups
- Coordinate with external departments, including Frist Campus Center management and public safety.
Qualifications
Essential Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent
- At least 5 years of practical work with at least 1 year of supervisory experience including training off staff
- At least one year of academic, research, or corporate library work and ability to learn quickly library policies and procedures
- Strong organizational and excellent service-oriented interpersonal skills
- Experience in managing, training and motivating staff and/or students
- Excellent ability to communicate in English, both orally and in writing
- Ability to make decisions and work independently with minimal supervision, as well as working well as a team leader
- Reliability, good judgement, leadership, and resourceful problem-solving skills
- Ability to prioritize workflows and respond creatively to changing circumstances
- Intermediate computer skills (Microsoft Office), and the demonstrated ability to learn new computer programs as needed
- Aptitude for working with bibliographic citations in several languages with reading knowledge of at least one East Asian Language
- Must be able to lift and shelve books (using stepladders) and handle large book trucks holding approximately 300 books (other physical tasks may involve careful handling of heavy and dusty books)
Strongly Preferred:
- Extensive experience in a similar educational (academic), preferably, library position (involving the supervision of staff and students)
- Ability to respond to emergencies calmly
- Experience with large-scale and long-term library projects
- Knowledge of MARC record structures and catalog systems in general, and of Ex Libris’s Alma integrated library system and OCLC (WorldCat) in particular
- Knowledge of library software (Alma, ILLiad), reserves processing applications, course management systems (Canvas), and scanning software
- Familiarity with East Asian cultures
Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
The University considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's qualifications, work experience, education/training, key skills, market, collective bargaining agreements as applicable, and organizational considerations when extending an offer. The posted salary range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate for a full-time position; salaries for part-time positions are pro-rated accordingly.
If the salary range on the posted position shows an hourly rate, this is the baseline; the actual hourly rate may be higher, depending on the position and factors listed above.
The University also offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees. Please see this link for more information.