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Working at Himmelfarb: Home

Considering working at Himmelfarb? This page gathers together information you can use to learn more about our library and decide if Himmelfarb is the right place for you.

Current Job Opportunities

Professional Positions

Job classifications (GW HR)
More information on the different types of positions available at Himmelfarb and other GW libraries.

Student Positions

Himmelfarb hires student assistants to work at the circulation desk, assisting library users in borrowing materials and providing help with the library's other services. Contact Kathy Lyons for more information.

Mission and Vision

Vision Statement

The Library will be recognized as a center of research, learning and creativity. We will provide relevant information resources, research tools, productive workspaces, and instruction to promote optimal information use. We will develop and utilize the talents of library faculty and personnel to achieve excellence in support of students, staff, faculty and researchers of the SMHS, GWSPH, and SON.

Mission

We support the information needs of the faculty, staff, and students of the SMHS, GWSPH, and SON by selecting, acquiring, and delivering information and by collaborating, educating, and building community.

We accomplish this mission by:

  1. Supporting the academic goals and research activities of every student, staff, faculty member and researcher through services and resources to foster learning and intellectual growth.
  2. Acquiring high quality resources and tools that support clinical care, population health and research.
  3. Investing in state-of-the-art systems that seamlessly integrate, retrieve, organize, analyze and preserve information.
  4. Pursuing innovation and enhancement of librarian and staff skills and services through education, training and job enrichment and by harnessing new technology.

Working at GW

Equal Employment Opportunity & Access

Equal Employment Opportunity & Access

The university is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action (EEO/AA) employer committed to maintaining a nondiscriminatory, harassment–free, diverse work and education environment. The university does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of protected characteristics or on any other basis prohibited by applicable law in any of its programs, activities, or employment practices.

For more information on this policy and its purpose, please read the Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement (PDF).

Himmelfarb Library Tour

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Social Media

Want to learn more about Himmelfarb Library? Check out our social media accounts!

Why Himmelfarb?

Himmelfarb Library is an ideal place for candidates of all backgrounds. You don't need to have a health sciences background to thrive at Himmelfarb. The variety of academic and experiential backgrounds of our staff has created a unique and cohesive staff culture that values diverse viewpoints. Opportunities to share ideas and turn those ideas into realities makes Himmelfarb a great place to explore and learn new skills and grow professionally.

Why GW?

Our culture of intellectual curiosity, collaboration, celebration of diversity and mutual respect makes our university both a dynamic and satisfying place to learn and work. In addition to your compensation, GW offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes health care coverage, paid vacation and sick leave, a retirement program, educational benefits and more! To learn more about how GW may be a good fit for you, check out the university's Why GW page.

Working at Himmelfarb

Committee Work

Himmelfarb staff have the opportunity to serve on numerous internal committees. Committee work allows staff to explore cultivating new skills, exchange ideas with colleagues, and participate in projects outside of your normal duties. Current committees include: Assessment; Collection Development; Communications & Marketing; Disaster Preparedness; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Healthy Living; Scholarly Research & Publishing; Staff Development & Cross-Training; and Web.

Himmelfarb Staff also have the opportunity to serve on external committees through the Washington Research Library Consortium and GW-wide Library committees with colleagues from Gelman and Burns Libraries. Himmelfarb staff are also encouraged to be involved in our professional organizations, and a number of staff have served on committees and elected offices through the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Medical Library Association, the Medical Library Association, and others.

Promotion and Professional Development

Librarian positions are eligible to apply for promotion through Himmelfarb's promotion-in-place program. Promotion to a higher rank generally brings with it a salary increase that is separate from annual salary increases, as well as greater expectations.

All staff are encouraged to pursue professional development opportunities, and funding is regularly available for classes and conference attendance. Himmelfarb librarians are frequently accepted into the Master Teacher Leadership Development Program, a year-long intensive program designed to enhance teaching skills, develop educational leadership potential, and promote scholarship in education. Staff are also supported in pursuing their own research and publications. You can see our past scholarly output showcased in the Himmelfarb collections in Health Sciences Research Commons.

Other Unique Opportunities

Himmelfarb librarians are deeply involved in the Practice of Medicine program, designed to teach first- and second-year medical students how to integrate their knowledge to make decisions in the clinical context. Librarians are matched with one or more small groups of first-year medical students who they meet with several times throughout the preclinical years to teach informatics skills, including database searching, critical appraisal of research articles, understanding levels of evidence, and much more.

Himmelfarb librarians may work in the clinical environment. Via integration with specific residency programs, Himmelfarb librarians find just-in-time answers to clinical questions, identify evidence to support clinical practice, and maintaining reading lists to support residents' individual growth.

Himmelfarb staff also support our faculty and students' scholarly research through innovative programs. Our Researcher Profile Audit Service was developed to help our users refine their author profiles on a wide range of online systems, improving their ability to present a full and accurate picture of their scholarship. Himmelfarb librarians regularly assist users conducting systematic reviews through our well-established systematic review service.

Other less-common services you might get involved with include:

Or start your own! Himmelfarb has a longstanding culture of encouraging and supporting innovation from staff.

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