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Manager, Archival Accessioning
The New York Public LibraryLibrary Services Center, United Statesfull_timeVerifiedPosted 18 Jun 2026
💰 $95,000/yr($90,000/yr – $95,000/yr)
About the role
Manager, Archival Accessioning
Application Deadline: 5 July 2026
Department: Collections
Employment Type: Full Time
Location: Library Services Center
Reporting To: Heather Lember
Compensation: $90,000 - $95,000 / year
Description
Overview
The mission of The New York Public Library is to inspire lifelong learning, advance knowledge, and strengthen our communities, and we rely on three great resources–our staff, our collections, and our physical and digital spaces–to provide opportunities for learning and growth. The research centers offer unparalleled opportunities to engage with in-depth and unique collections, inspirational reading rooms, exhibitions, programs, and a range of research services.
The mission of The New York Public Library is to inspire lifelong learning, advance knowledge, and strengthen our communities, and we rely on three great resources–our staff, our collections, and our physical and digital spaces–to provide opportunities for learning and growth. The research centers offer unparalleled opportunities to engage with in-depth and unique collections, inspirational reading rooms, exhibitions, programs, and a range of research services.
Special Collections Processing (SCP) department promotes access to the Library’s most distinctive collections by describing and preparing rare and unique materials for discovery and use. Archival Processing (AP) is the team within SCP that supports access to archival collections and their preservation by arranging and describing archives and manuscripts, creating finding aids for research use, managing the ArchivesSpace Staff Interface, accessioning new acquisitions, remediating legacy archival description, and managing archival metadata across systems.
The Manager, Archival Accessioning oversees all aspects of archival accessioning across the Research Libraries. They support access to archival collections by establishing immediate physical and intellectual control of new acquisitions and managing accessioning workflows in ArchivesSpace. Additionally, this role is responsible for supervising archival processing staff, including processing small collections at the point of accessioning, and ensuring daily operations align with institutional priorities and national best practices.
While based at the Library Services Center (LSC) in Long Island City, Queens, the Manager works across the organization to accession archival acquisitions and backlog collections in all formats, including audio and moving image recordings and born-digital media. The Manager supports new archival acquisitions, collaborating with Curators, Special Collections Acquisitions Operations, and Collection Management staff for site visits and collection packing.
We are looking for someone we can count on to:
Own:
- The day-to-today accessioning operations to support archival processing priorities and institutional goals for collections access
- The management of accessioning workflows and metadata in ArchivesSpace
Teach:
- Train staff and stakeholders in accessioning best practices, standards, workflows, and the use of the ArchivesSpace accessioning module
Learn:
- The range of special collections at NYPL and the needs of each curatorial unit to ensure that accessioning and processing workflows and policies align with each center’s priorities
Improve:
- Accessioning workflows to support archival description, including for audio and moving image and born-digital materials
- Training on archival standards and systems to ensure all staff understand the integral and essential function accessioning has in processing workflows
Some expectations for this role are that within:
1 month, this person will:
- Understand the scope of work in AP and the integral role of accessioning in that work
- Meet acquisitions and curatorial staff to learn the scope and scale of new archival acquisitions and backlog projects
3 months, this person will:
- Meet with the managers in each department in Collections and Research Services to determine shared workflows and the ways in which each collaborates with AP
- Visit each research center and meet key curatorial partners and other stakeholders
- Meet with AP’s partners in Digital and participate in planning conversations for an ArchiveSpace upgrade and data migration
- Begin work on updating accessioning documentation and workflows in alignment with the Society of American Archivists’ Accessioning Best Practices
- Lead efforts to transition all archival accessioning activities into ArchivesSpace
- Work as an active partner with the Senior Manager to identify and manage accessioning and processing priorities
6 months and beyond, this person will:
- Create and document new workflows to support migration of all archival acc
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