Administrative Director

The Antiquarian Book School Foundation (ABSF) is seeking a highly organized and entrepreneurial individual to serve as its new Administrative Director. This is a full-time, primarily remote position with two in-person events required annually.

The ABSF, a 501(c)3 educational nonprofit organization is focused on promoting, maintaining, and expanding the standards and reach of the antiquarian book trade; and CABS-Minnesota, an annual week-long intensive seminar for booksellers, prospective booksellers, and others with an interest in the antiquarian book market.

The Administrative Director (AD) will work full time with the ABSF Board of Directors and CABS-Minnesota faculty to oversee the day-to-day operations of the ABSF and its educational programs–namely, the CABS-Minnesota Seminar and the Diverse Voices Fellowship (DVF). The AD is a management role communicating between the Foundation and stakeholders in four key areas of the organization: educational programming; communications; development; and finance.

• Educational programming: 
  • Managing the Diverse Voices Fellowship (e.g., advertising, recruitment, and selections, as well as facilitating fellows’ participation in required activities: field schools, CABS seminar, drop-in sessions and meet-ups, &c.);
  • Facilitating the CABS scholarship application and selection cycle in collaboration with the Seminar Director;
  • Overseeing annual enrollment and registration for CABS-Minnesota;
  • On-site support for the CABS summer seminar, including event planning (reservations, catering, &c.) and faculty logistics (housing, travel, assistance with course materials, &c.);
  • Working with the Board to design and implement programs that further ABSF’s mission;
  • Organizing and archiving educational materials.

• Development:
  • Stewarding existing donors, including scholarship underwriters and program sponsors, in collaboration with the Board;
  • Identifying and soliciting potential benefactors for scholarships, program activities, and/or endowment;
  • Annual fundraising, with an initial target of $30,000 in annual contributions.

• Communications:
  • Updating and maintaining the ABSF’s web-based media, including its public-facing website, social media accounts, and listserv;
  • Issuing a quarterly newsletter in collaboration with the Board and stakeholders;
  • Building an annual report, as guided by Board members;
  • Maintaining good communications with faculty, program participants, donors, and the greater rare book community.

• Finance:
  • Managing day-to-day finances, invoicing, processing payments, paying bills, disbursements, and bookkeeping;
  • Drafting an annual budget for the Diverse Voices Fellowship in collaboration with the Treasurer of the Board;
  • Generating monthly financial reports;
  • Managing and maintaining the Foundation’s current and past financial records, including budgets, donor records, &c.
  • Overseeing compliance with state and federal tax regulations.

Minimum Qualifications

• 2-5 years administrative experience, preferably in non-profit management, and/or community outreach
• Experience in managing a budget and/or financial recordkeeping
• Proficiency in office technology (Word processing, spreadsheets, file management)
• Excellent writing skills and the ability to coordinate in a timely fashion between multiple parties remotely
• Strong organizational skills and the ability to perform without direct supervision
• The ability to travel 
• Ability to commit to no vacation time during the months of May--July.

Desired Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have demonstrable experience in non-profit fundraising and administration, as well as outreach to populations that have been historically underserved by heritage institutions and the book trade. Experience in the book trade or special collections libraries is preferred. A bachelor’s degree is preferred.

Salary and Benefits

The position is a primarily remote, full-time position with two events per year requiring in-person attendance. Starting salary is $55,000, with four weeks (20 days) of PTO and all national holidays off. Benefits include:

• Contributions to health insurance starting at $400 a month minimum, with the possibility of fully managed coverage
• 403(b) retirement account with matching contributions up to 5%

Interested applicants should submit a resume and a one- to two-page cover letter, in PDF format, addressing their interest in the position, as well as the experience they would bring to ABSF and what they would hope to gain in the AD position.   

All applications should either be submitted via the provided google form or be sent to to absf@bookseminars.com by December 1. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis thereafter. Finalists will be contacted by the second week in December, with the scheduled start date for the position being February 1st