The Newberry offers internships in most of its departments. Newberry interns benefit professionally and intellectually from challenging work assignments as well as participation in the library’s lively community of scholars. Interns are supervised individually by Newberry staff members, who serve as mentors and insure that the internship has a robust educational component. In addition to their individual assignments, interns learn about other dimensions of the Newberry through group presentations, tours, and events such as the weekly colloquium. At the colloquium, the Newberry community gathers to hear an informal talk, usually focused on the collections or a current research project within the Newberry, followed by discussion and accompanied by refreshments.

Internships may last from one month to one year, and require from seven to 35 hours per week. In most cases, hours can be arranged flexibly. Undergraduates and graduate students in the humanities, social sciences, library and information science, performing arts, journalism, communications, marketing, graphic design, and museum studies, as well as postgraduates with backgrounds in these fields, may apply for available internships. Please refer to the individual internship descriptions for the specific qualifications for each position.

If you would like to be considered for more than one internship, you only need to submit one application. In your cover letter, please specify the internship(s) for which you are applying, in order of preference.

These opportunities are unpaid (unless stated otherwise), however, many previous interns have earned academic credit for their Newberry experience.

Send résumé and cover letter combined in one PDF or word document.

Please submit your application by email to internships@newberry.org, addressed to:

Internship Director
The Newberry Library
60 West Walton Street
Chicago, IL 60610-7324

No phone calls please.

The application deadlines for internships are as follows:

February 21 – for summer internships (May-August)
June 1 – for fall internships (September-December)
December 1 – for winter/spring internships (January-April)

A full listing of summer internship opportunities will be posted by mid-January.

Current Opportunities

• Communications and Marketing Internship
• Digital Imaging Services Metadata Internship
• Events Internship
• Genealogy and Local History Internship
• Maps Internship
• Public Programs Internship

Communications & Marketing Internship

Department: Communications & Marketing

Summary: With the Communications and Marketing team, the intern will research, report, and draft a wide variety of written materials, including press releases, web content, brochure copy, and magazine stories. The summer intern also will help promote Newberry events and initiatives, particularly the Civil War exhibition, via social media networks and other public relations outlets. The intern also will assist the team with media inquiries, image selection and retrieval, and other tasks as assigned by the department director.

Learning Potential: The intern will become familiar with parts of the Newberry’s large collection including American Indian studies; American history and culture; the history of printing and book arts; Chicago and the Midwest; maps and travel; Renaissance studies; music and dance; and religion. The intern also will learn how to write effectively and persuasively for a wide variety of media and audiences, and to work well with a range of colleagues, from fund-raising professionals to scholars.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree completed or n progress
• Extremely strong research, writing, computer, and organizational skills
• Ability to work as part of a team as well as independently

Schedule: 10 – 35 hours a week, to be determined by the intern and supervisor

Digital Imaging Services Metadata Internship

Department: Digital Imaging Services

Summary:  The intern’s primary responsibilities will include the creation and editing of metadata for digital images in the Newberry’s Digital Asset Management System. Potential projects include the generation of metadata for images from the Newberry’s Everett D. Graff Collection of Western Americana and images related to the cross-institution Encyclopedia of Chicago project. This work will include extensive use of Piction, the Newberry Library’s digital asset management system. Duties may also include work in Adobe Bridge and/or Photoshop, tasks related to the organization and management of existing content in the digital asset management system, administrative tasks related to the operation of the department and other tasks as needed.

Learning Potential: The intern will gain practical experience in the generation of metadata images with hands on experience with Piction, the Newberry Library’s digital assest management system. Tutorials on library standards for metadata creation, the Dublin Core metadata schema, and FAST subject analysis will be provided.

Qualifications:

• MLS degree in progress with cataloging and/or metadata coursework completed preferred
• Some familiarity with image management databases desirable, but not required.

• Must be able to work a minimum of 14 hours per week with preference to work up to 21 hours per week for 8 weeks. 12 weeks preferred.

Schedule: 14 – 21 hours a week, to be determined by the intern and supervisor.  Preference will be given to candidates who are able to work 21 hours per week.

Events Internship

Department: Events

Summary: Under the direction of the Director and the Associate Director, the Intern will assist in a variety of event related tasks including both Library events and outside rentals. Responsibilities include assisting with event coordination, working with clients and caterers, maintaining a supply of sales brochures, answering phone and email inquiries and maintaining event inventory and déco.  The intern may also be asked to serve as a back-up for public and group tours, set up and break down refreshments for Library related events, and promote the Library to corporate and social clients.

Learning Potential: The intern will have many opportunities to work with the public – from people in the first stages of planning an event to those whose dates fall within the intern’s time at the Library. There is also a good opportunity for networking with event coordinators for possible future employment.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree completed or in progress
• Friendly and professional demeanor
• Ability to work as part of a team as well as independently

Schedule: 10 – 15 hours a week, to be determined by the intern and supervisor.  Work schedule includes some evenings and week-ends.

Genealogy and Local History Internship

Department: Reader Services

Summary: Working with the Curator of Genealogy and Local History, interns will gain experience in collection development, reference, and metadata generation by processing accessions, answering reference correspondence, and developing content for ChicagoAncestors.

Learning Potential: The intern will gain practical experience in the processing of local and family history material, provision of genealogy reference, and development of online resources.

Qualifications:

• MLS degree completed or in progress is highly desirable
• Interest in family history and/or Chicago history is highly desirable

Schedule: 8-12 hours per week, to be determined by the intern and supervisor.

Maps Internship

Department: Map Cataloging

Summary:Working with out-of print or antiquarian maps and atlases, the intern will create original bibliographic records, comprised of physical description, choice of access points, geographic classification, subject & call number assignment, and authority control, to produce records for the Newberry Library Cartographic Catalog (NLCC).

Learning Potential: The intern will gain practical experience in the expedited processing of Special Collections material, while learning and applying fundamental principles of library cataloging.

Qualifications:

• MLS degree completed or in progress is highly desirable

• Interest in history, geography and maps, and familiarity with spreadsheet or bibliographic programs desirable, but not required

Schedule: Minimum of 8 hours per week, to be determined by the intern and supervisor.

Public Programs Internship

Department: Public Programs

Summary: The intern will work with public programs staff to register participants for adult education seminars and to assist with other programming staffing, planning, and administration. In consultation with the Spotlight Exhibitions Coordinator, the intern will use Omeka open source software to produce online resources for the department’s exhibitions. Duties also include clerical work, data entry, and AV delivery and setup.

Learning Potential: The intern will gain hands-on experience in the preparation and facilitation of adult educational programming.  By working with Omeka, he or she will learn how to build digital exhibitions, becoming better acquainted with the wide array of materials in the Newberry collections in the process.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree completed or in progress
• Ability to work as part of a team as well as independently
• Friendly and profressional demeanor

Schedule: 10 – 20 hours per week, to be determined by the itnern and supervisor. Work schedule includes some Saturday mornings, and early evenings on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.