Reporting to the Coordinator, Area Studies Collections, the South Asia Studies Librarian selects and acquires scholarly resources from and about the region of South Asia, in a wide range of subjects in both South Asian and European languages. The incumbent supervises the technical processing of selected materials acquired from vendors in South Asia. The incumbent will also perform original cataloging of selected materials in conjunction with other library staff. They provide specialized reference services, instruction, and consultations with scholars and students from the Penn community and beyond, as well as maintaining a seminar room with its own reference collection and teaching facilities. The South Asia Studies Librarian will have knowledge of changing patterns of scholarship and publishing in relevant fields of study and will be committed to the international and interdisciplinary strengths of Penn’s academic programs. While continuing to focus on traditional formats, the South Asia Studies Librarian will actively promote new library services and is expected to seek out external funding opportunities and develop collaborative partnerships worldwide. In addition, the Penn Libraries have a number of unique manuscript resources, which the incumbent will steward, develop, and promote. Overall responsibilities: • Overseeing a budget of about $150,000, develops and manages the South Asia collection from and about the geographic region, which includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sikkim, and Sri Lanka, with some coverage of Tibet. Also acquires materials from and about the diasporic community of South Asians in the US, UK, and elsewhere in the world outside of South Asia proper. The primary languages covered include most notably Sanskrit (Vedic and Classical), Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil, and Telugu, as well as English, French and German to support research in South Asia Studies. • Provides specialized reference, instruction, and academic liaison services primarily to faculty and graduate students with research interests in South Asia Studies. Works closely with the faculty and students, especially graduate students, from several other departments and schools where South Asia is included as a topic of study within more general coursework. • Manages, coordinates, and participates in the process of acquisition and bibliographic control of all types of resources in the languages of the region, using an integrated library system and the OCLC bibliographic utility. Performs original and complex copy cataloging for resources in the vernacular and provides appropriate classification and subject analysis according to national and local standards often in conjunction with other library specialists. Serves as a resource person, both within the South Asia Unit and throughout the Libraries, on matters pertaining to the bibliographic control of resources from the region as well as the maintenance of the integrity of the online South Asia catalog data. • Develops and maintains the South Asia Collection website, http://www.library.upenn.edu/collections/sasia/ • Participates in the larger field of South Asia librarianship on the national and international level with a particular emphasis on fostering meaningful collaboration. • Promotes effective relationships with colleagues, especially those in other Area Studies Units and other humanities bibliographers, their respective campus constituencies, and donors. Stewards endowments and participates in development activities related to the South Asia Collection and the Area Studies collections more broadly. • Supervises and trains one full-time library specialist and two part-time technical services assistants. • Contingent on training and experience, may have additional assignments in teaching courses related to South Asia Studies.

Reference Number: 50-24300
School/Center: University Library
Job Grade: 027
Position Type: Full Time
Position Length: Ongoing