Reference and Instructional Services Librarian

Location: Honolulu, HI

I. Duties and Responsibilities: Librarian III and Librarian IV


The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, William S. Richardson School of Law seeks to hire a tenure-track
Reference and Instructional Services Librarian. The Reference and Instructional Services Librarian will
provide instructional services for students, faculty, and staff of the Law School, including teaching as
part of a team in the required first-year Legal Research curriculum, which features an online distance
education component; designing and teaching advanced legal research courses; and developing
targeted instructional workshops for Law School faculty. The successful candidate is tasked with
proposing instructional solutions to keep pace with the changing educational needs of law students.
The Reference and Instructional Services Librarian is a member of the Public Services staff of the Law
Library and, as such, will assist the legal community and public patrons and is expected to work
collaboratively and collegially with colleagues. The successful candidate will participate in and
supervise the provision of all reference services, including research consultations for students and
faculty as well as the creation and maintenance of research guides, tutorials, and other tools to assist
Law Library users with their research. Moreover, the successful candidate must be able to tackle
complex legal research questions and stay current with the research tools and methods that assist in
answering those questions.


The Reference and Instructional Services Librarian reports directly to the Law Library Director and will
be assigned other duties and projects by the Law Library Director. As a member of the Law School
faculty, the successful candidate will serve on both Law Library and Law School committees and is
expected to maintain a visible presence in the Law School by attending events, educational
workshops, and faculty meetings.


This tenure-track position requires demonstrated initiative and continued growth in the specialization
of law librarianship. We encourage candidates who are members of groups underrepresented in the
legal academy to apply. Rank and salary are commensurate with experience.


The Law School is located in Mānoa on the flagship campus of the University of Hawai‘i system. It reflects
and embraces Hawai‘i’s diversity, location, and values, and recognizes its special responsibility to Hawai‘i
and the Pacific region. Thus, the successful candidate will be interested in researching and learning about
laws affecting Indigenous cultures with specific reference to Hawaiʻi and the legal systems of the Pacific
region. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to furthering UH Mānoa’s mission as a
community-serving university grounded in a Native Hawaiian place of learning. The successful
candidate should also be willing to contribute to and support the Law School’s new online JD
program.


II. Minimum Qualifications
a. Minimum Qualifications for Librarian III:

• Juris Doctor degree from an ABA accredited law school.
• Master’s degree in Information/Library Science from an ALA accredited library school.
• Three years of experience working at an academic law library as a reference librarian.
• Knowledge of legal resources, legal information databases, legal technology, and legal research methodology, and a willingness to stay current on new developments.
• Willingness to travel inter- or intra-state for professional activities.
• Strong communication skills, along with an ability to deal with confidential information and
issues about the law library’s patrons using discretion and sound judgment, and to interact
positively with students, faculty, staff, and the public.


b. Minimum Qualifications for Librarian IV:
• All the minimum qualifications of Librarian III.
• Four years of experience working at an academic law library as a reference librarian.
• Experience teaching information literacy and legal research at a U.S. law school.


III. Desirable Qualifications: Librarian III and Librarian IV
• Previous experience working in a law library.
• Experience teaching information literacy and legal research at an accredited law school within
the United States or other country that functions under a common law system of government.
• Knowledge about laws affecting Native Hawaiians and other Indigenous cultures with specific
reference to legal research techniques.
• Experience providing reference, research, and instructional services specific to foreign,
comparative, and international law, environmental law, and/or business law, and working
within a collection development policy to establish and maintain the law collection specific to
those areas.
• Ability to work effectively with diverse groups and to thrive in multicultural and
multidisciplinary contexts.
• Experience in and commitment to teaching law effectively in a variety of modalities, including
in-person, online, and hybrid.


Interested candidates should submit the following to the Library Appointments Chair, Professor Brian
Huffman, at wsrslfsc@hawaii.edu:


(i) Cover lettershowing how they satisfy the minimum and desirable qualifications;
(ii) Resume;
(iii) Contact information for three academic and/or professional references;
(iv) Statement describing their teaching philosophy;
(v) Statement explaining how they would contribute to furthering the mission and values of the Law
School and UH Mānoa.


The Library Appointments Committee will begin reviewing applications on September 5, 2023, and
continue until the position is filled.


The University of Hawaiʻi is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution and is committed to
a policy of nondiscrimination on the basis of race, sex, gender identity and expression, age,
religion, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, marital status, arrest and court record, sexual
orientation, or status as a covered veteran.

Contact Information

Contact: Brian Huffman, William S. Richardson School of Law
Email: wsrslfsc@hawaii.edu
Phone: 808-956-2599
University of Hawai‘i Alumni