The University of Windsor invites applications and nominations for the position of Law Librarian from current permanent, full-time librarians of Leddy Library and Windsor Law Library for a term of up to five (5) years, commencing July 1, 2024.
In addition to the comprehensive Canadian J.D., Windsor Law offers a comparative Canadian and American Dual J.D., allowing students to practice on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. Students may also choose combined law-social work and law-business degrees as well as a research-based LL.M. program. With over 700 students, 32 faculty members, and an extensive alumni network, Windsor Law is a uniquely diverse legal educational institution that centres lived experiences in the study of law. More than one quarter of Windsor Law’s class of 2025 are first generation Canadian, 53% are racialized, 59 % speak a second language and 84% are first in family to attend law school. We are dedicated to reviewing our governance through anti-racist, intersectional and decolonial lenses and define ourselves as a justice-seeking, community-engaged and people-centred institution. Our unique location at the Canada-U.S. border supports teaching, research, clinical and experiential opportunities that cannot be replicated elsewhere.
The new Don & Gail Rodzik Law Library recently opened into its doors as part of the $38 million transformation of the Ron W. Ianni Law building in support of our commitment to innovative pedagogies, including collaborative, active and experiential learning. More details about our building transformation can be found at https://www.uwindsor.ca/law/twl. We also remain committed to institutionalizing an ambitious strategic plan to ensure our continued leadership as a justice-seeking, community-engaged and people-centred law school. Our current strategic plan can be found at https://www.uwindsor.ca/law/1537/strategic-plan.
Reporting to and working in close collaboration with the Dean of Windsor Law, the Law Librarian oversees the Law library. They will provide vision, strategic direction, and planning, along with inspiring academic leadership of the library in line with the overall vision and direction of Windsor Law.
The Law Librarian is an integral part of the Windsor Law Dean’s leadership team. Working with the broader parameters of Windsor Law’s strategic and financial sustainability plan, the Law Librarian is responsible for the administrative and financial management of the law library, management of service areas of the library, oversight of collection management, and is expected to support excellence and innovation at Windsor Law. Leveraging technological advances and understanding librarianship in the 21st century are critical to supporting modern professional practice. As an individual with a strong understanding of technological and pedagogical changes within the legal profession and law schools, the Law Librarian will contribute to developing library services to advance faculty and student success, supporting innovative research, supporting pedagogical innovations and strong instructional programmes, and directing the integration of new technologies and information delivery systems.
The Law Librarian is expected to encourage and cultivate professional development and leadership among staff and librarians. The Law Librarian should be familiar with working within unionized environments. They have a demonstrated ability to work creatively and constructively with librarians, staff, students, and faculty to provide library services that meet the needs of Windsor Law and the University community. The Law Librarian serves on Library, Faculty, and University Committees, and may be requested to lend support to University of Windsor Libraries in the provision of services and programs for the larger University community.
Windsor Law seeks candidates who can demonstrate or speak to their potential in the following qualities:
- The ability to work collaboratively and constructively with the Office of the Dean and Windsor Law’s larger leadership team to make and stand behind important decisions
- Supportive of innovation by individual members of the Law Library team and transformation of the Law Library in support of Windsor Law’s strategic priorities
- Leadership skills and the capacity to inspire, motivate and encourage strong and effective professional librarians and staff, while fostering equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility
- Collegiality and ability to build inclusive spaces in which others can use their talents and demonstrate leadership skills
- Demonstrated and effective management experience, and ability to promote and maintain a collegial and equitable work environment particularly in a unionized environment
- Ability to manage a team, set priorities, allocate resources, and make decisions between competing priorities
- Ability to manage complexity and reconcile diversity of perspectives and viewpoints
- Ability to effectively address and mediate conflict, harassment and bullying in the workplace
- Ability to make sound judgements in relation with operational procedures, policies and conflict management
- Ability to understand and follow collective agreements, as well as University employment and operational policies and procedures
- Ability to represent the Law Library internally within Windsor Law, as well as within the University of Windsor and more broadly within professional communities, including legal institutions such as the Law Society of Ontario
- Ability to understand and communicate to others the ways in which legal research and writing is changing in response to changes in technology and professional practices, including the ways in which technology is changing legal practice
- Ability to envision the Law Library as part of a larger and changing landscape of legal education and to respond strategically to this changing landscape to ensure Windsor Law’s continued leadership within the access to justice landscape
- Commitment to professional growth and ensuring the continued professional development of team members
- Creative commitment to external stakeholders’ access to justice and promoting the law library as a resource to the wider community
- Candidates must hold a permanent or permanence-track position at the University of Windsor and an American Library Association (ALA) accredited graduate level degree or equivalent.
- A minimum of 5 (five) years experience as a librarian in a legal, academic, or professional institution
- Strong understanding of the role of emerging technologies in supporting legal education grounded in an understanding of best practices and emerging trends in the rapidly changing library and publishing environments
- Demonstrated experience developing or potential to develop content and teach legal research in academic and professional settings
- Knowledge of legal research collections and experience with collections management and development in an increasingly complex contract negotiation requirement
- Knowledge of evolving information technologies and tools and their impact on students, staff, faculty, and the broader community
- Knowledge of legal research, learning, and general research best practices
- Broad understanding of issues and emerging trends in legal education, research, and scholarly communications
- Demonstrated planning and leadership skills
Preferred qualifications:
- JD or relevant experience working within a legal, an academic, or a professional setting outside of a law library would be an asset
- Record of successful completion of complex projects and experience taking appropriate initiatives in pursuit of established library goals
- Financial management experience, including budgeting, regular reporting, and expense approval
- Knowledge related to assessment/metrics appropriate to a library setting
This hire aligns with the bold imperatives of the University of Windsor strategic plan, Aspire: Together for Tomorrow, ratified Spring 2023. The University embraces a people-first philosophy grounded in a culture of academic excellence and deep belonging. Among key strategic priorities are advancing the journey towards truth and reconciliation; building a just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive, university; ensuring a high-quality teaching, learning, and student experience; engaging in impactful research, scholarship, and creative activity; fostering a safe, welcoming, and sustainable campus; and engaging in local and global partnerships. The University has already made significant strides on many of these key files, and we are seeking applicants interested in working alongside us to advance them even further. Driven by the University’s commitment to anti-racism, the Black Studies Institute was established in 2023 supported by a historic cohort hiring initiative that has brought thirteen Black scholars to UWindsor across several of our faculties. The recent cohort of new faculty joining the University (over 50) is among the most diverse in our history.
Our campus is situated on the traditional territory of the Three Fires Confederacy of First Nations: the Ojibwa, the Odawa, and the Potawatomi. We are making steady progress on the Indigenization of academic programming, an Indigenous Strategic plan, and a cohort hire of Indigenous faculty in 2018-19 followed by additional hiring. Our students mirror the extraordinary cultural richness of our region, one of the most diverse in all of Canada. And we have strong global partnerships and commitments, which are reflected in the increasing number of graduate and undergraduate students we attract from across the world. The University is a signatory to the Scarborough Charter, participates in the Federal 50/30 Challenge, and endorses the Government of Canada’s Dimensions Charter.
The University of Windsor is a Canadian public, comprehensive research university enrolling over 16,000 students, including 5700 graduate students. It offers more than 280 academic programs and certificates, including 70 masters and doctoral degrees across its nine faculties: Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences; Business; Education; Engineering; Graduate Studies; Human Kinetics; Law; Nursing; and Science. It also houses a medical program through the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University. Tenured and tenure-track faculty number about 600.
Application Requirements:
- a letter of application;
- a detailed and current curriculum vitae;
- a statement addressing how you, in the role of Law Librarian, might contribute to Law Library as it continues to evolve over short and long term (up to 2 pages);
- a reflection of engagement and commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization (up to 1 page); and
- the names and contact information for three (3) references.
The short-listed candidates may be invited to provide further information in support of their applications. To ensure full consideration, complete an online application (http://www.uwindsor.ca/facultypositions) found on the job advertisement by May 10, 2024. Applications may be considered after the deadline date; however, acceptance of late submissions is at the discretion of the search committee.
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE AN ONLINE APPLICATION
When completing the online application, please reference
Position Number: # 002562ADM60-2024-LAWL
Questions may be sent in confidence to:
Dr. Selinda Berg, Chair
Law Librarian Search Committee
E‑mail: sberg@uwindsor.ca
In pursuit of the University's commitment to employment equity, members from the designated groups (women, Indigenous/Aboriginal (First Nations, Métis, Inuit) persons, racialized persons/visible minorities, persons with disabilities, and persons of a minority sexual orientation and/or gender identity) are encouraged to apply and to self-identify.
For an accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please notify the Faculty Recruitment Coordinator (recruit@uwindsor.ca). Should you require further information on accommodation, please visit the website of the Office of Human Rights, Equity & Accessibility (http://www.uwindsor.ca/ohrea).
All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply. Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. This position is subject to final budgetary approval.