Academic Yr Internships, The Morgan Lib & Museum (Manhattan)

The Morgan Library & Museum Academic Year Internships

(Part-time, paid)

The Morgan Library & Museum welcomes applications for its 2023–2024 academic year internship program. The program will provide an introduction to the variety of career opportunities available in museums and special collection libraries. Each intern will be assigned to a department relevant to their interest and work with departmental staff on timely topics in that area. Interns will also have the opportunity to learn about the Morgan, and the museum and special collection fields more generally, through professional development opportunities such as facility tours and meetings with museum leadership.

These are on-site, paid internships for schedules of up to 14 hours per week. Please see detailed application instructions below. The Morgan especially seeks to provide opportunities to candidates from backgrounds historically underrepresented in the museum and special collection libraries fields. Please note that professional development programming will generally be scheduled on Fridays, and so priority will be given to applicants able to be at the Morgan on Fridays.

For the academic year 2023–2024, internships are available in the following areas:

Printed Books and Bindings Internship
This internship in the curatorial department of Printed Books and Bindings offers a unique opportunity to gain practical experience in the field of arts and cultural heritage. The successful candidate will work closely with the Astor Curator and Department Head on projects that may include the following: assisting in the organization and facilitation of the Printed Lives outreach project to local schools and in delivering engaging presentations and workshops to students; organizing promised gifts and collections as needed; supporting the Astor Curator in conducting research on potential exhibition themes and artworks; collaborating with the curatorial team to plan for proper care and preservation of donated works; and assisting in the exhibition-related activities such as labeling, signage, and layout design.

Drawings and Prints Internship
This internship in the curatorial department of Drawings and Prints will enable a student to be mentored in the history of nineteenth century French art through the enhanced online presentation of works in the Morgan's collection. The intern will assist the Eugene and Clare Thaw Curator of Printed Books with the research and writing of interpretive texts devoted to the Morgan's holdings by French artists active in France, North Africa, and abroad during the period from the French Revolution to the dawn of the twentieth century. The intern will also assist with entering and proofreading the information on the works, in collaboration with drawings department and Collections Information Systems colleagues, to ensure that each drawing is accurately and fully presented in the Morgan's online public access catalogue, paving the way for students and scholars to engage more deeply with this portion of the collection.

Public Programs and Education Internship
The Education Department intern participates in the Morgan’s school, family, and teen programs, including the Morgan Book Project and exhibition programming. The candidate should demonstrate a keen interest in the field of museum education and in the visual arts, attention to detail, and solid writing and communication skills. The intern will assist in the weekly implementation of school programs, including set-up and clean-up of classes, the maintenance of program supplies, and administrative support. The candidate will observe the Morgan’s school programming and be trained to teach school tours, including onsite and offsite events. The candidate will additionally participate in family and teen workshops.

Communications and Marketing and Internship
The Communications and Marketing Department is interested in hosting an intern to work in collaboration with the Morgan’s staff Outreach Committee and the Director of Communications and Marketing to issue weekly audience experience surveys and two reports on the findings. The intern will also assist with seasonal updates to the contacts database, provide support for the Morgan’s Centennial campaign, and help with operating the College Ambassadors program.

Imaging and Rights Internship
This internship offers a unique opportunity to gain experience in Imaging and Rights. The successful candidate will assist on Morgan publications and exhibitions, organizing images and spreadsheets, assisting with color proofing and maintaining image and copyright credits. The intern will also update metadata in image files such as Morgan Digital Assets (MDA) and continue with ingesting digitized music images into MDA. This requires accessing databases, embedding metadata into image files, and after MDA ingest, reviewing, revising and correcting data when necessary.

Graham S. Haber Cultural Heritage Collections Photography Internship
This internship will provide an introduction to the Morgan’s digital imaging studio and training with professional digital imaging equipment. The intern will learn to create archival quality digital images of rare materials in the Morgan’s collection, which spans from Ancient Western Asian seals and tablets to contemporary drawings and photography, while also learning the crucial role of digital imaging in museums and special collections, cultural heritage imaging standards, and the many uses of a wide variety of images produced. Recent graduates may also apply. 

Exhibition and Collection Management Internship
The Exhibition and Collections Management department is interested in hosting an intern to assist with the processing of paperwork for acquisitions and objects on temporary deposit, help with the inventory of collection objects, and also aid with label production, documentation and data entry. The intern will also assist with filing and archiving loan and acquisition related paperwork, TMS work (data clean up, generation of loan records, and paperwork), the trafficking and organization of exhibition graphics, and more!

Thaw Conservation Center Internship
The focus of this internship will be the creation of preservation enclosures for fragile collection materials, while also providing an introduction to the goals and activities of the Thaw Conservation Center (TCC). Under the guidance of the book and paper conservators in the TCC, the intern will learn to identify and describe the vulnerabilities of books and archival materials, and transfer them to safe archival housings where appropriate. Depending on which days they work, the intern will also participate in the weekly routines of the department, assisting in activities such as gallery walk-throughs and environmental monitoring; there will be opportunities to shadow conservators, fellows, and preparators working on treatment and exhibition preparation.

Sherman Fairchild Reading Room Internship
The Sherman Fairchild Reading Room is looking for a Library or Archival Science undergraduate/graduate student who is interested in working in a special collections, research library, or museum library environment. The main responsibilities include: sorting, paging, and reshelving of reference books and other secondary source materials, including microfilms and internal files; inputting and updating reader records and files in Voyager and Microsoft Access database (or related); photocopying and scanning of reference books and archival documents, and working on other Library projects and miscellaneous office tasks as assigned.

Eligibility

• Current enrollment as an undergraduate or graduate student.
• Strong interest in a career in the museum or library field.
• Eligibility to work in the United States (international candidates must be eligible to participate in a paid internship program in the United States).
• Strong verbal and written communications skills.

The Morgan requires all employees, including interns, to have been vaccinated and received booster shots against the COVID-19 virus.

Compensation: 

$18 per hour.

Academic year internships are onsite at the Morgan, with interns generally working up to 14 hours per week, beginning in mid-September and running through early to mid-May.

To apply: 

Interns will be selected on a competitive basis via an application process. The deadline to apply for an internship is July 14, 2023.

To apply, submit the following materials, in English, via email as a single PDF to the following address: internships@themorgan.org (In the subject line please include the following format: First and Last Name – Internship you are applying to)

1. A cover letter containing the following information:
   • The internship of interest to you. Specify ONE from the following:
     
     1. Printed Books and Bindings Internship
     2. Drawings and Prints Internship
     3. Public Programs and Education Internship
     4. Communications and Marketing Internship
     5. Imaging and Rights Internship
     6. Graham S. Haber Cultural Heritage Collections Photography Internship
     7. Exhibition and Collection Management Internship
     8. Thaw Conservation Center Internship
     9. Sherman Fairchild Reading Room Internship
   • A statement regarding your interest in the museum or library field, and your future aspirations.
   • A statement about why diversity and inclusion are important to you within the museum or library field, and how this opportunity will assist your career goals?
2. Any other information that you would like to provide regarding your candidacy for a Morgan academic year internship.
3. Your resume
4. The names and contact information of two references (please include the person’s name, title, organization, telephone number, and email address)

Please note that applications received without all requested information, including a cover letter, will not be considered. Candidates selected for interviews will be contacted before July 31, with notification of decision following soon thereafter. No phone calls, please.

About the Morgan Library & Museum
A museum and independent research library located in the heart of New York City, the Morgan Library & Museum began as the personal library of financier, collector, and cultural benefactor Pierpont Morgan. The Morgan offers visitors close encounters with great works of human accomplishment in a setting treasured for its intimate scale and historic significance. Its collection of manuscripts, rare books, music, drawings, and works of art comprise a unique and dynamic record of civilization, as well as an incomparable repository of ideas and of the creative process from 4000 BC to the present.


Support for the Morgan Library & Museum Internship Program is provided by the Themis Brown Endowment Fund and the Rudin Foundation.

The Morgan Library & Museum receives many applications and inquiries for employment. Unfortunately, we are not able to respond to all of them. Due to the high volume of applicants, we can contact only those candidates whose skills and background best fit our needs.

Important to note:

Vaccination Requirement
To ensure the overall health and safety of the Morgan Library & Museum campus, all staff of the Morgan are required to be fully vaccinated and have received booster vaccines against the virus that causes COVID-19, absent qualifying exemptions for medical, religious, or other reasons in accordance with applicable laws.

EEO Statement
The Morgan is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to complying with all federal, state, and local equal employment opportunity laws. The Morgan provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, marital status, military or veteran status, domestic violence victim status or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal, state, and/or local laws.

The statements herein are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees and are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. Furthermore, they do not establish a contract for employment and are subject to change at the discretion of the employer.