Job Description

Job Title: Archives & Special Collections Student Assistant

Department: Library

Supervisor: Gerald Ward

Starting Rate of Pay: $8.00

Length of Time: Eligible for rehire on a semester basis.

Department Description

Archives & Special Collections is a department of HPU Libraries responsible for preserving, organizing, and providing access to materials documenting the history of High Point University as well as rare books, manuscripts, photographs, publications, and other distinctive collections. The department supports teaching, research, exhibits, outreach, and preservation activities for students, faculty, staff, and visiting researchers.

Job Description

The Archives & Special Collections Student Assistant will support the day-to-day work of Archives & Special Collections through a variety of projects involving archival materials, rare books, digital collections, preservation, and research support. Duties may include organizing and describing collections, scanning and digitizing materials, entering or reviewing descriptive information, assisting with exhibits and outreach, rehousing materials in archival enclosures, and helping maintain orderly collection and work spaces.

Because the position involves working with unique, rare, and sometimes fragile materials, successful candidates must be dependable, detail-oriented, able to follow established procedures, and comfortable performing focused work independently. The position may also involve occasional interaction with students, faculty, staff, and visitors using Archives & Special Collections.

Job Location/Hours Required

The candidate will perform most job duties within Archives & Special Collections and related library work areas. Scheduling will be arranged around the student's academic schedule and departmental needs. Preference may be given to students who can work consistent blocks of approximately 2 to 4 hours at a time. The position is not expected to exceed 10 hours per week, and the total number of hours a student employee may work per week is 20 hours, consistent with the model used in the attached student position description.

Responsibilities

• Assists with processing and organizing archival and special collections materials
• Assists with digitization projects
• Assists with inventories, shelf reading, and collection management projects
• Retrieves and returns materials from Archives & Special Collections storage areas
• Handles rare books, archival materials, and other unique items according to established procedures
• Assists with preparation of materials for classes, exhibits, displays, and outreach activities
• Assists with basic preservation and collection-care activities as directed
• Helps maintain clean, orderly, and secure collections and work spaces
• Performs other Archives & Special Collections projects and duties as assigned

Required Qualifications:

Applicants must be able to work independently, follow detailed instructions, take initiative, and communicate effectively with library staff, students, faculty, and visitors. Candidates must demonstrate reliability, attention to detail, organization, and care when working with unique or fragile materials.

Applicants should be comfortable performing repetitive or detail-oriented tasks and working for extended periods with books, papers, photographs, and digital files.

Applicant must have a minimum 2.0 overall GPA.

Desired Qualifications:

Students with an interest in history, archives, libraries, museums, public history, English, the humanities, digital humanities, preservation, or related fields are encouraged to apply.

Previous experience is not required. Interest in learning about archival collections, rare books, digitization, historical research, or preservation is preferred.

Familiarity with basic computer applications and comfort working with spreadsheets, databases, scanners, or digital files is helpful.