Description
The University of Oklahoma College of Law Library invites applications for a Research Librarian to join our collaborative, service-oriented team in Norman, Oklahoma.
The Donald E. Pray Law Library is an integral part of the OU College of Law’s teaching and scholarly mission. The library supports the research, instructional, and service needs of the College of Law, the broader University community, the Oklahoma legal community, and the public.
The Research Librarian provides reference, research, and instructional services to the law school’s faculty, students, and other researchers. This librarian will have the opportunity to work closely with an active and engaged law faculty, contributing to the scholarly life of the College through faculty liaison work, in-depth research support, current awareness services, and subject-focused collection development. This position will also teach one to two sections of the required first-year legal research course, provide guest lectures in other law school courses, and teach advanced legal research courses as needed.
This position is an especially strong opportunity for a newer law librarian, or for a librarian seeking to grow in academic law librarianship, or even an attorney with an interest in research, teaching, and law librarianship. The role provides broad experience across the core areas of the profession, including reference, classroom teaching, faculty research support, collection development, research guide creation, committee service, university collaboration, and professional engagement. The successful candidate will have opportunities to develop teaching skills, build subject expertise, support faculty scholarship, participate in professional conferences, and become an active member of the library community.
OU offers the energy and resources of a major public research university in a welcoming college-town setting. Norman combines the advantages of a university community with a cost of living and housing market that compare favorably with many larger metropolitan areas. The city has a lively cultural calendar, including annual events such as the Medieval Fair, Norman Music Festival, and Jazz in June, along with restaurants, parks, museums, arts events, and easy access to Oklahoma City.
Norman is also a wonderful place to be part of Sooner life. OU has a proud athletics tradition, and its women’s programs are a particular point of pride. The Sooners’ softball and women’s gymnastics programs have each won eight national championships, and women’s gymnastics captured its eighth title in 2026. (University of Oklahoma) For sports fans, arts lovers, lifelong learners, and anyone who enjoys the rhythm of a college town, Norman offers plenty to do without the scale or cost of a much larger city.
Requirements
In order to successfully perform in this position, qualified candidates should possess a Master’s degree (preferably in Library and Information Studies) and a Juris Doctorate degree.
Successful candidates should have performed legal research in an academic or law firm setting using online resources such as Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg Law or other platforms, worked with legal professionals and students, and have experience in teaching or training.
Candidates need to have a strong service orientation, be cooperative team players, excellent interpersonal and communication skills, and exhibit curiosity, tenacity and creative problem solving.