Come work with the LGBTQ Iowa Archives & Library (LIAL) as our Fall 2024 Fellow! We are seeking a highly-motivated individual for a part-time, hybrid fellowship who can regularly attend events in Iowa City. In this role, you will take on a range of responsibilities, from day-to-day communications and volunteer coordination to event planning and special projects.
About LIAL: The LGBTQ Iowa Archives and Library is a volunteer-run community archives and lending library with a mission to collect, preserve, and share the queer history of Iowa and increase access to queer literature for all ages.
To accomplish our goals of collecting, preserving, and sharing queer history in and about Iowa we have three principal functions. The first is a lending library to share the breadth and diversity of LGBTQ writers and stories for our community to enjoy and learn from. The second function is to build an archives that captures the robust material traces of LGBTQ life in Iowa, available to community members and scholars for browsing and research. The third is to serve as an oral history resource center as we share the tools, skills, and knowledge necessary to actively capture LGBTQ history in our state through recorded interviews.
Location: 538 S Gilbert St, 2nd Floor, Iowa City IA (some on-site work required)
Position type: Part-time, hybrid (10-15 hours/week)
Length of fellowship: 16 weeks beginning in August 2024
Work hours: Highly flexible, although attendance at some events is necessary, including possibly evenings and weekends
Stipend: $4,000 total, delivered in monthly installments starting September 2024
Expectations:
- Develop and/or coordinate programming activities in the Close House and out in the community, including in rural Johnson County
- Provide support to LIAL committee chairs by scheduling meetings, taking notes, and following up with committee members to support their progress
- Closely monitor and respond to emails and messages in the fellowship role and for organizational accounts
- Work individually with volunteers to coordinate coverage of library open hours
- Communicate and engage with community partners in meetings, over email, and via social media
- Research grant opportunities and assist with grant writing and fundraising
- Tend to the library space weekly, ensuring it remains clean and tidy after use
- Attend weekly or bi-weekly Zoom meetings with leadership team to get support and report back about fellowship activities
- Moderate the LIAL Discord discussion group
- We will support you to take on any side projects you are interested in pursuing!
Required qualifications:
- Background in community organizing or other volunteer history
- Familiarity with the LGBTQ community and its history
- Experience using Google Drive apps, especially Docs and Sheets
- Confidence in verbal and written communication
Preferred qualifications:
- Experience using Canva to design graphics
- Passion for LGBTQ history and literature
- Training or experience with library sciences, preferably archiving
- Past engagement with LIAL’s library, archiving, or events
Timeline: Our goal is to begin reviewing applications on August 1st and start interviewing candidates by August 8th. We hope that our new Fellow can begin work by the end of August 2024.
To apply: Send resume and cover letter (no more than 1 page each) to director@lgbtqiowa.org by July 31st, 2024.
Access a PDF of the job listing here.
