The History of Medicine Department is seeking a Curator of Rare Books who will work in the Historical Collections at the Institute and will manage the library and special collections of the Institute of the History of Medicine, a unique research library serving scholars across Johns Hopkins University and a broad international community of scholars in the field.



Specific Duties & Responsibilities:

The Curator is part of a larger shared services model which encourages collaboration across the university libraries, particularly with curators, archivists, liaisons, informationists, and technologists from the Sheridan Libraries, Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives, and the Welch Medical Library. This position entails three primary areas of responsibility:



Collections: The Curator develops and manages the rare books and other primary sources, secondary sources, reference materials, and manuscripts in the Historical Collections of the Institute of the History of Medicine. These responsibilities include working with donors and collection creators to further collection goals and stewardship plans; managing designated collection funds and cataloging of rare materials; selecting secondary sources for acquisition; bringing the collections to a larger audience by developing digital initiatives and promoting collections through social media; supervising access to rare materials.


Supervisory: The Curator supervises a part time Collections Manager whose roles include cataloging, security, preservation, collection care and maintenance, and a Library Assistant whose work entails circulation of secondary materials, journals processing, management of reserve readings for department courses, and support for exhibitions. The Curator also oversees student workers and interns, maintenance contractors, and administers the general operating and facilities budgets for the Historical Collections.


Research The Curator serves as a research resource by offering advanced research consultation related to the collections, including responding to reference questions and meeting with student and faculty users as well as outside researchers.


Minimum Qualifications (Mandatory):

Bachelor’s Degree required.
Minimum of five years progressively responsible experience in special collections development; familiarity with standard archival and library procedures and engagement with key issues in managing special collections and rare books.
Additional graduate education may substitute for required experience, to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula.*
Experience supporting successful undergraduate, graduate, or faculty research.
Must be able to work on location in Baltimore, Maryland.