Job Description

Library Assistant

Compensation: $25 per hour, 32-40 hours per week

Employment Type: Temporary, Project-Based (5 months, approximately November 1 - March 30)

FLSA Code: Non-exempt

Organizational Size: 20–35 staff

The American Alpine Club is preparing to move its collections and is hiring three temporary full-time Library Assistants to support this time-bound project to process, inventory, and box the print, archival, and object collections. This position is 100% on-site and in-person.

The Library Assistants will work in accordance with established professional standards and internal policies to assess materials, create or refine inventory records, and document collection status and needs. The ideal candidate will have strong attention to detail, alongside library, archives, and/or museum experience. The candidate should be comfortable moving and lifting assets, including delicate materials and reasonable boxes of books. This position suits someone who excels at hands-on collections work and structured project execution.

As the Library Assistant, your responsibilities include:

• Conduct a systematic inventory of designated library, archival, and museum holdings, including books, periodicals, manuscripts, photographs, and objects.
• Assess materials condition and flag items requiring special attention.
• Apply consistent naming conventions, metadata schemas, and organizational structures to improve collection usability.
• Produce clear documentation of workflows, decisions, and standards applied during the project and ensure all assets are locatable.
• Aid in the team effort to keep the Library, Common Space, and Storage Areas safe and clean.
• Additional library duties as assigned by the Library Director.

Qualifications

• Experience in Library Science, Archival Studies, Museum Studies, or a related field; BA or MA a bonus. Open to current MLS/MLIS students.
• Subject matter expertise, including knowledge of archival techniques and best practices, digitization, metadata standards, and digital preservation preferred.
• Experience working with special collections or archives; comfortable handling historical and potentially fragile materials.
• Demonstrated experience with archival inventorying and cataloging of physical collections.
• High level of accuracy, organization, and attention to detail.
• Ability to manage project-based work independently while coordinating with a small team.
• Comfortable with Google Suite.
• Bonus: registrar experience.
• Knowledge of climbing, mountaineering, and outdoor recreation is a bonus.

Environment

50% Desk work – Typical office work on a computer utilizing Excel, G Suite, Slack, Zoom, and other computer-based programs.

50% Physical work – This role involves regular handling of physical materials, standing, lifting boxes up to standard archival weights, and extended periods of focused, detail-oriented work. On-site work is required for most phases of the project.

Benefits

The AAC offers limited benefits for temporary part-time positions, including sick leave, pro-deals, and AAC Membership.

How to Apply

All who love the AAC mission are encouraged to apply, including people of color, Black, Indigenous, transgender, and non-binary people. Apply online. No phone calls or emails, please. Cover letters are required. Applicants will be considered on a rolling basis.

The AAC is an equal-opportunity employer. Your gender, religion, sex life, skin color, first language, marital status, and size and ability of your body do not factor into employment decisions here. If you love our mission and are good at what you do, come as you are. A note about applying: our position descriptions outline general needs for a role, but these are not set rules. If you meet more than two-thirds of the suggested skills, we encourage you to apply. Include any applicable experience, both paid and volunteered, that helped you build these competencies.

About the AAC Founded in 1902, the American Alpine Club (AAC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to providing climbers with resources that advance knowledge, inspiration, and advocacy. Through our rescue benefit and medical expense coverage, climbing and grief grants, campgrounds, and discounts, we are committed to empowering our members. We share knowledge and inspiration through the American Alpine Journal, Accidents in North American Climbing, and preserving climbing history in the AAC Library and Archives. Finally, we advocate for our members and the places we climb by breaking down barriers to climbing and seeking to preserve our climbing landscapes and public lands nationally and locally. At the AAC, we are connected through our passion for climbing. United We Climb.

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