Career Opportunity

City Archivist (0922) - San Francisco Public Library (143695)

Recruitment: RTF0143694-01155334

Published: March 25, 2024

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About:

This is a Position-Based Test conducted in accordance with CSC Rule 111A.

Application Opening – February 26, 2024
Application Deadline – The application filing will be open continuously at least through Friday, March 22, 2024, and may close any time thereafter.
Compensation Range: $128,050 - $163,514 Annually (Range A)
Appointment Type: Permanent Civil Service
Recruitment ID: PBT-0922-143695; RTF0143694-01155334

San Francisco Public Library (SFPL) is dedicated to free and equal access to information, knowledge, independent learning and the joys of reading for our diverse communities. The library system includes the architecturally significant Main Library in the city’s Civic Center, 27 neighborhood branch libraries, two administrative buildings and four bookmobiles. With a collection of more than 3.7 million items, and circulation exceeding 11 million each year, SFPL serves more than 6 million visitors annually. The library system has extraordinary political and fiscal support that mandates an annual funding allocation from the city’s property tax revenues, resulting in a budget of $171.2 million in FY 22. With a strong budget, SFPL has approximately 900 employees committed to outstanding public service.

In June 2018, the Library was named Library of the Year by Gale/Library Journal for its active promotion of San Francisco’s values of inclusion, diversity, and equity and its ability to create programs and policies that support those democratic values. The library embraces its role as the most democratic of institutions, providing safe and welcoming facilities for all. Through a robust array of services and programs, the library places an emphasis on literacy and learning, digital inclusion, social justice, equity and healthy communities. To learn more about SFPL, please visit https://sfpl.org/.

Role description

Under general supervision, the City Archivist plays a vital role in preserving and sharing the city's historical wealth.  The incumbent leads the effort to acquire, maintain, and steward San Francisco's archives, adhering to city regulations and collaborating with CCSF departments.  The City Archivist engages with community groups and educational institutions to ensure inclusive representation of the city's history.

Additionally, the City Archivist improves archives and records management practices across municipal departments, develops training programs, and guides policy implementation.  The incumbent spearhead initiatives for electronic records management and provide expert advice on archives and records management.

Furthermore, the City Archivist oversees day-to-day operations and budget coordination of the San Francisco History Center at the Main Library, managing donor funds and collaborating on collection development.  The incumbent also writes grants for digitization projects and maintains archival technologies.

The City Archivist's role is crucial in safeguarding and sharing San Francisco's historical heritage for future generations.

The essential functions of this position include:

• Leads city-wide efforts for acquiring, maintaining, and stewarding city archives;
   
• Conducts extensive outreach to CCSF departments and officials to preserve historical records;
   
• Engages with community groups, educational institutions, and organizations for diverse history preservation;
   
• Develops policies and initiatives to improve CCSF archives and records management;
   
• Provides training for stakeholders in historical records maintenance;
   
• Assesses potential records for intake and advises on electronic and born-digital records storage;
   
• Conducts special projects with City departments and establishes high-level partnerships for sharing San Francisco's history;
   
• Serves as a single point of accountability for San Francisco archival inquiries and expands diversity in collections;
   
• Oversees daily operations and budget coordination of the San Francisco History Center;
   
• Writes grants for digitization projects and stays current with archives technology; and
   
• Performs related duties as required

How to qualify

These minimum qualifications are to be used as a guide for establishing the education, training, experience, special skills and/or license which may be required for employment in the class. Although these minimum qualifications are typical of the class, additional minimum qualifications and special conditions may apply to a particular position and will be stated on the job announcement.

Experience:

• Possession of a Master's Degree in Library and Information Studies (MLS/MLIS) from a college or university accredited by the American Library Association; AND
   
• Three (3) years of experience managing the operations of an archives or special library collections unit (ex. academic, local history, government documents, corporate archives, etc.), including at least one (1) year supervising other professional librarians

One year of full-time employment is equivalent to 2000 hours. (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week.) Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment.

Important Note: Please make sure it is absolutely clear in your application exactly how you meet the minimum qualifications listed above. Applications that do not appear to meet the minimum qualifications will not move forward in the recruitment process.

Verification:
Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required, information on how to verify education requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://sfdhr.org/how-verify-education-requirements.

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience, education, training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility, disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

Selection Procedures:
After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following: 

Minimum Qualification Supplemental Questionnaire (Weight: Qualifying):  
Candidates will be required to complete a MQSQ as part of the employment application. This MQSQ is designed to obtain specific information regarding an applicant's experience in relation to the Minimum Qualifications (MQ) for this position. The MQSQ will be used to evaluate if the applicant possesses the required minimum qualifications.

Supplemental Questionnaire (Weight: 100%):  
Supplemental Questionnaire (SQ) is designed to measure the knowledge, skills, and abilities in supervisory competencies as well as job-related areas which may include but not be limited to: historical knowledge, records management, preservation techniques, information technology, cataloging and description, research skills, communication skills, technical skills, organizational skills, and critical thinking.

Candidates who meet the minimum qualifications will be emailed the supplemental questionnaire to the address listed on the candidates’ online application. Candidates will be required to respond to the supplemental questionnaire in the time frame indicated and must submit the completed questionnaire as directed in order to have it evaluated. Responses cannot be changed once submitted. Candidates will be evaluated based on their supplemental questionnaire responses. Candidates must achieve a passing score on the supplemental questionnaire in order to continue in the selection process and will be placed on the confidential eligible list in rank order according to their final score. After the confidential eligible list is adopted the department may administer additional selection procedures to make a final hiring decision. 

Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

Certification
The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be the Rule of the List.

Eligible List/Score Report: 
A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created, and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission. 

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be six (6) months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations.  [Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/.

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 110.4.  Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources, 1 S Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement.  Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements, applications and examination policies, including applicant appeal rights, can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at http://sfgov.org/civilservice/rules. 

What else should I know?

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights:
Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. Clerical errors may be corrected by the posting the correction on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/.

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 111A.35.1. The standard for the review of such appeals is ‘abuse of discretion’ or ‘no rational basis’ for establishing the position description, the minimum qualifications and/or the certification rule. Appeals must include a written statement of the item(s) being contested and the specific reason(s) why the cited item(s) constitute(s) abuse of discretion by the Human Resources Director. Appeals must be submitted directly to the Executive Officer of the Civil Service Commission within five business days of the announcement issuance date.

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco

Information About The Hiring Process
Conviction History
Employee Benefits Overview
Equal Employment Opportunity
Disaster Service Worker
ADA Accommodation
Veterans Preference
Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams
Right to Work
Copies of Application Documents
Diversity Statement

HOW TO APPLY
Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/CityAndCountyOfSanFrancisco1/ and begin the application process.
 
• Select the “I’m Interested” button and follow instructions on the screen.

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and, therefore, it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also, applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking, applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@sfgov.org, @sfdpw.org, @sfport.com, @flysfo.com, @sfwater.org, @sfdph.org, @asianart.org, @sfmta.com, @sfpl.org, @dcyf.org, @first5sf.org, @famsf.org, @ccsf.edu, @smartalerts.info, and @smartrecruiters.com).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the Senior Human Resources Analyst, Raymond Wang, by telephone at (415) 437-4829, or via email: raymond.wang@sfpl.org.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.