The Curator of the Latin American and Caribbean Collection (LACC) is a full-time tenure-track library faculty position within the Special and Area Studies Collections Department, responsible for overall management and development of the LACC holdings, programs, priority initiatives, and personnel.

The Curator of LACC provides strategic vision and overall management for a preeminent collection at the University of Florida. This position initiates and manages unit programs, outreach activities, grants, and special projects, including initiatives to digitize Caribbean materials in partnership with leading U.S. and international institutions. The Curator of LACC is a key liaison for the Libraries in its international partnership with the Biblioteca Nacional de Cuba and other partners. The Curator collaborates closely within the Libraries and across campus to promote distinctive collections and to support emerging research and teaching needs at University of Florida. This position leads a team of experienced library faculty and staff in establishing LACC priorities, goals and procedures for public services, technical services, and collection management, with oversight of materials budgets. The Curator is expected to participate in publications, bibliographical control, digitization, outreach, exhibits, and fundraising programs, and serves as a liaison between the LACC unit and Libraries administration, in consultation with the Chair.

The Smathers Libraries encourage staff participation in reaching management decisions and, consequently, the Curator of LACC will be asked to serve on various departmental and library-wide committees and teams. The incumbent will pursue research, publication, and professional service activities to meet the standards for tenure and promotion. To support all students and faculty and to foster excellence in a diverse and global society, the Curator of LACC will be expected to include individuals of diverse backgrounds, experiences, races, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientation, and perspectives in work activities.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Curator of the Latin American and Caribbean Collection is a faculty position with managerial responsibilities and strategic leadership for the physical and digital holdings, personnel, and resources related to Latin American and Caribbean studies in the Department of Special and Area Studies Collections. The following faculty responsibilities are integrated into the position of Curator of LACC:

1. Establishes strategic plans and promotes the national and international profile of LACC's mission and holdings, and develops plans with the Chair and other administrators for supporting the academic and research objectives of the University of Florida.
2. Provides overall management of LACC; supervises library faculty and staff including assigning responsibilities, training, monitoring, and evaluating; and collaborates with the Chair regarding support services for LACC.
3. Heads and manages projects to build the preeminence and distinction of LACC, beginning with a new digitization initiative focused on Cuba.
4. Serves as the key Library liaison with the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida and with institutional partners, including communication in and translation of official documents.
5. Supports digitization and participates in the development of the Digital Library of the Caribbean (dLOC).
6. Provides consultative services to faculty and advanced graduate students in Latin American and Caribbean studies, maintaining contact with faculty and students utilizing the Latin American and Caribbean Collection to ensure Library support of university needs, and client awareness of relevant library resources and information.
7. Stays current with emerging scholarship in Latin American and Caribbean studies, as well as resources at UF and other libraries or collections that serve the Latin American and Caribbean studies field.
8. Oversees collection management policies for circulating and special collections, as well as LACC approval plans, working with LACC and other Libraries personnel to review relevant sources of information to ensure optimal selection of circulating and special collections material for acquisition by purchase, gift, exchange, or other, with authority over unit approval plan and oversight of expenditures and documentation.
9. Establishes cataloging and preservation priorities, and makes storage, transfer, and deselection decisions for Latin American and Caribbean materials.
10. Participates in reformatting and digitization programs for important items in jeopardy and in creation of metadata appropriate for bibliographical control, in coordination with departments in the Libraries.
11. Participates in the Special and Area Studies Collections strategic planning process and departmental activities.
12. Works closely with the Libraries' Development Office (Development Officers and Public Information Officer) to organize fundraising and donor relations activities.
13. Pursues professional development opportunities, including research, publication, and professional association activities, to meet library-wide criteria for tenure and promotion.
14. Participates in the Library's exhibition, research, and publication programs.
15. Serves on Library and departmental consultative bodies as appropriate.
16. Develops and maintains professional relationships with other Latin American and Caribbean bibliographers, providing leadership at the national level in various organizations.