Ask a Librarian Internship Program

Columbia University Libraries welcomes applications for the remote, part-time Ask A Librarian Internship in the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters. The Ask A Librarian Internship provides currently-enrolled Library & Information Science students with hands-on experience in academic librarianship. Interns will receive training and support from a librarian supervisor in order to assist users through the Ask A Librarian chat reference service. Additionally, interns will work in collaboration with their supervisor to conduct a project, such as designing and delivering a workshop session, creating a research guide, or processing special collections. Interns will be matched with a project based on their interests, experience, and project availability.

The Ask A Librarian Internship Program seeks to provide meaningful working experiences that relate to the goals and interests of the intern. BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Library & Information Science students are highly encouraged to apply.

Applications will be accepted from July 1st to July 21st, 2024. Applications received before or after this time will not be considered.

Fall 2024: Three positions will be available for the Fall 2024 semester. Interns are anticipated to start August 26th, 2024, with an expected end date of December 20th, 2024, for a period of approximately four months total.

Spring 2025: Three positions will be available for the Spring 2025 semester, which we are also recruiting for at this time. Interns are anticipated to start January 13th, 2025, with an expected end date of May 16th, 2025.

The internship will be conducted remotely. Interns residing in the New York City area will have the option to conduct project work at Columbia University’s Morningside Campus if desired.

$25/hour

The schedule is an average time commitment of 14 hours per week, but varies week to week. It includes nine hours of chat reference staffing during evenings and/or weekends, and up to five hours of working on a project. Evening and weekend chat reference hours include Monday-Friday 5pm to 8pm, and Saturday-Sunday 12pm to 6pm (Eastern Time Zone). There is some flexibility in scheduling, and interns are encouraged to swap chat reference shifts with one another as needed.

Provide research assistance to Columbia University students, faculty, staff, alumni, and external researchers through the Ask A Librarian chat reference service
Conduct a project with the guidance of a librarian supervisor
Meet with librarian supervisor once per week
Participate in monthly all-group internship meetings

Interns will work on one of the following projects, which can be completed remotely unless otherwise noted. In your application please note which project(s) you are most interested in.

Trends in Open Access Publishing. Availability: Fall 2024. The intern will assist the Open Access Task Force (OAT) with a project to analyze open access publishing trends and costs. The prospective intern should be comfortable working with spreadsheets and will be exposed to technologies and tools including the Open Alex API and Tableau. The intern will take part in team meetings, assist with developing reporting metrics for the project, and work on the final report.
Analyzing Open Access Memberships and Support. Availability: Fall 2024. The intern will assist the Open Access Task Force (OAT) with a project to analyze open access membership costs and institutional support of "open access" organizations and initiatives. The prospective intern should be comfortable doing independent research, collecting data in a structured manner (e.g. spreadsheet input), and have an interest in the open access/scholarship/infrastructure landscapes. The intern will take part in team meetings, compile and report on data, and work on a final report for the group.
Researching Professional Association Membership Funding in Academic Libraries. Availability: Fall 2024. In this project the intern will investigate whether and how memberships in professional library associations are funded among a selection of academic libraries. To do so, the intern will review the existing literature, conduct an informal survey of specified academic libraries, and follow up with survey respondents as needed for clarification. After data collection, the project will culminate in a report that will be presented to the Columbia University Libraries’ Diversity & Inclusion Committee. The intern will gain experience doing original research, a strong understanding of professional library associations, and insight into how academic libraries are structured and make decisions.
Digital Preservation of Journalism Master’s Projects (In-person project). Availability: Spring 2025. The Columbia Journalism School Master's Projects and Theses are a special collection of final projects completed by all Journalism graduate students. These projects are held only in physical formats, including audio and video projects dating back to the 1990s in a variety of media (reel, VHS, cassette, CD, USB drive, and more). These projects are not well-cataloged and there is not currently a plan for their storage or preservation. The intern will: 1) Conduct an inventory of the type and condition of the projects, and: 2) Research and outline a preservation plan to enable long-term access. This project will be ideal for students interested in digital preservation and/or multimedia collections.
Learning About and Leading Library Instruction. Availability: Spring 2025. The intern will begin this project by observing different librarians' online instruction sessions (including workshops as well as course-integrated instruction when possible), and learning about instructional best practices using readings selected by the librarian supervisor and modules from the Columbia Center for Teaching & Learning. Then, the intern will lead two online library workshops in March and April (on the topics of using the library catalog, searching databases, or using Zotero), and one workshop on a topic of the intern's choosing in late April that they will design and teach. This project will be ideal for someone with an interest in teaching in libraries who would like to gain hands-on instructional experience.

Must be enrolled in a Master of Library Science (MLS) or equivalent program during participation in the internship
Demonstrated effective communication skills
Interest or demonstrated ability to provide high quality research assistance
Ability to work evenings and/or weekends (5-8pm Monday-Friday and 12-6pm Saturday-Sunday, Eastern Time Zone)

Applicants must reside in the United States to be eligible for consideration.

Applications will be accepted from July 1st to July 21st, 2024.

To apply:

Please submit a cover letter and resume to the Ask A Librarian Internship Coordinators at AskALibrarianInternship@library.columbia.edu by Sunday, July 28th at 11:59pm Eastern Time Zone.

Submit your cover letter and résumé as a single document (preferably PDF), with the naming convention: Lastname_Firstname_Application.pdf

Your cover letter should include:

How you meet the required qualifications for the internship
Which project(s) you are most interested in conducting and why
Which semester you wish to be considered for: Fall 2024, Spring 2025, or no preference.

We expect to notify successful applicants in mid-August, and unsuccessful applicants in late August.

Please note that there is no interview process for Ask A Librarian Interns, and candidates will be offered a position based solely on their application materials.

Please contact the Internship Coordinators at AskALibrarianInternship@library.columbia.edu.