Dean, Libraries
Location: Hickory, North Carolina
Lenoir-Rhyne University invites applications for an experienced and visionary leader to serve as the Dean of the University Libraries. The Dean will provide strategic leadership and direction, ensuring that the Libraries advance the University’s mission and play a central role in teaching, learning, research, and student success.
This leader will champion innovation in library services—ranging from digital scholarship and data management to AI literacy and emerging technologies—while fostering strong partnerships with faculty, students, and staff.
The successful candidate will bring demonstrated expertise in academic library administration, collaborative and inclusive leadership, and an innovative approach to the rapidly evolving information landscape. By aligning library initiatives with national best practices and evidence-based strategies, the Dean will enhance student learning, support faculty research, and promote student retention and timely degree completion.
As the Libraries’ chief advocate, the Dean will build and sustain external partnerships, obtain grants, and lead effective fundraising efforts to secure resources, while representing the University Libraries at the regional, national, and international levels.
Lenoir-Rhyne University promotes a welcoming campus environment that is integral to the university's commitment to excellence in engagement and education. We seek candidates who have demonstrated success in fostering a welcoming community, working with faculty, staff, and students from all walks of life in addition to incorporating varied perspectives and traditions in their current or previous positions. This commitment is rooted in our Lutheran tradition of fostering wisdom, nurturing vocation, and preparing students for lives of purpose while serving the common good.
Key Responsibilities
- Strategic Leadership: Develop, implement, and assess a forward-thinking vision for the Libraries that aligns with the University’s mission and strategic plan, demonstrating impact through ongoing evaluation of programs and services.
- Academic and Research Support: Strengthen teaching, learning, and research through initiatives in digital scholarship, information literacy, open access, and research data management, while partnering with faculty to embed library expertise in curricula and student research experiences.
- Innovation in Services: Lead efforts in digital platforms, archives, special collections, accessibility, and emerging technologies such as data services and AI literacy, positioning the Libraries as the hub of academic and cultural life.
- Administration and Operations: Oversee budgeting, staffing, facilities, and resource management while fostering professional growth, diversity, and retention of library personnel.
- External Engagement & Fundraising: Build partnerships with donors, alumni, granting agencies, and external organizations to secure resources and advance the Libraries’ mission.
- Student Success and Retention: Build and align library programs and services with national best practices and evidence-based approaches to enhance student learning, address achievement gaps, and promote timely progression to degree completion.
- Representation and Professional Engagement: Serve as the University’s library ambassador in regional and national contexts, and contribute to the profession through scholarship, service, and leadership in library consortia.
Qualifications
- Educational Background: ALA-accredited Master’s degree in Library/Information Science or equivalent professional degree required; doctoral credentials preferred.
- Administrative Experience: Progressive leadership in academic libraries with demonstrated success managing complex organizations and leading organizational change.
- Research and Technology Expertise: Knowledge of digital scholarship, emerging technologies, scholarly communication, library infrastructure, and research data management.
- Collaborative Leadership: Proven ability to work effectively with faculty, staff, students, and administrators to build cross-campus collaborations supporting student and faculty success, fostering an environment of welcoming and belonging.
- Innovation Leadership: Demonstrated experience leading initiatives in areas such as AI, AR/VR, or advanced digital platforms, with a strong commitment to experimentation and continuous improvement.
- Advocacy Skills: Ability to represent and advocate for the Libraries’ needs within institutional planning and to external stakeholders.
Preferred Qualifications
- Fundraising & Development: Experience cultivating donor relationships and securing external funding, including grant writing, to support library growth.
- Building External Partnerships: Success collaborating with academic consortia, community partners, and external agencies to expand library services and increase institutional visibility.
Compensation
Lenoir-Rhyne University offers a competitive salary and benefits package. Salary transparency is a priority; detailed information will be provided to candidates during the interview process.
Application Process
Interested candidates should submit the following:
• A cover letter addressing qualifications and interest in the position.
• Current curriculum vitae.
• Contact information for three professional references.
To ensure full consideration, please submit materials by December 10, 2025. The position will remain open until it is filled. For any questions, please contact Michael McGee, Assistant Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of The Graduate School, at mcgee@lr.edu.
About Lenoir-Rhyne University
Lenoir-Rhyne University is a co-educational, private masters comprehensive liberal arts institution founded in 1891, with its traditional campus located in Hickory, North Carolina, a town of more than 40,000. The university has additional graduate centers in Asheville, N.C., and Columbia, S.C. Situated in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Lenoir-Rhyne is less than an hour’s drive from Charlotte, and the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton metropolitan statistical area has a population of about 365,000. The university now offers more than 45 undergraduate and 20 graduate degree programs to approximately 2,400 students. Lenoir-Rhyne University seeks to liberate mind and spirit, clarify personal faith, foster physical wholeness, build community, and promote responsible leadership for service worldwide. Affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), Lenoir-Rhyne is open to people from all religious and non-religious backgrounds.
About the University Libraries
The Lenoir-Rhyne University Libraries are a catalyst for innovation, discovery, and student success. Guided by the mission of the university, the Libraries provide dynamic physical and virtual environments that foster lifelong learning, collaboration, and creativity. By integrating emerging technologies, inclusive resources, and evidence-based practices, the Libraries empower our communities to explore knowledge, develop critical skills, and contribute meaningfully in a rapidly evolving world.
Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity Policy
Lenoir-Rhyne University is committed to providing a workplace and educational environment, as well as other benefits, programs, and activities that are free from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.
LR is committed to creating a safe campus environment for all members of the LR community, including, but not limited to, those who identify as transgender and gender non-conforming. To that end, LR does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex (including sex stereotypes and sex characteristics), ethnicity, national origin, physical or mental disability, age, marital status, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran or military status or any other characteristic or status protected by applicable law.
To ensure compliance with federal and state civil rights laws and regulations and to affirm its commitment to promoting the goals of fairness and equity in all aspects of the educational program, activity and employment, LR has developed internal policies and procedures that provide a prompt, fair and impartial process for those involved in an allegation of discrimination or harassment, and for allegations of retaliation.
LR values and upholds the equal dignity of all members of its community and strives to balance the rights of the parties in the grievance process during what is often a difficult time for all those involved.