PT Library Assistant

LIBRARY ASSISTANT 

Department: Lending Services

Reports to: Department Head 

Job Type: Part Time; Non-Exempt

Organizational Role

Serve as a member of the Lending Services Department, providing assistance in all aspects of library service and ensuring an exemplary experience for our community members. Respond to inquiries via the public service desk, phone, and email. Maintain the library cardholder database, including data entry and reporting. Shelve collection items, refresh displays, and ensure library materials are in their correct locations. Contribute to special projects and initiatives. 

Responsibilities

• Staff the Checkout Desk, providing a warm welcome to visitors of the library.
• Assist visitors with locating collection items and offering meaningful recommendations on popular and upcoming books, films, music, and other media.
• Promote programs and services available at the library through engaging conversation with library visitors.
• Check out collection materials, and clearly communicate loan policies and procedures. 
• Advise cardholders on how to operate the library’s self-checkout system.
• Process payments for fees and merchandise by cash, check, credit card and NFC payments, providing accurate change and reconciling money transactions.
• Register new library cardholders and renew current cardholder accounts in accordance with established library policies. 
• Process collection items efficiently, including checking in returned materials, managing hold requests and cancellations, troubleshooting collection and equipment issues, ensuring accurate material status, and following up with cardholders as necessary.  
• Restock the new book and media shelves accurately, remove material from the circulating collection for repair, change of location, or cataloging revisions, and ensure material statuses are correct. 
• Generate daily statistical reports and email notices, and maintain cardholder account records by updating the cardholder database to reflect new registrations, changes of address, or other modifications to cardholder records.
• Collaborate with colleagues in resolving community members’ issues, make referrals as appropriate, and keep colleagues informed of challenging situations.
• Open and close the library efficiently and according to specific department procedures.
• Staff the Welcome Desk as needed, locating items in the catalog, requesting interlibrary loan service, submitting purchase suggestions, and providing instruction for downloading e-content to visitor’s mobile device.
• Assist in the training and orientation of new staff and volunteers.
• Participate in professional organizations, conferences, publisher events, webinars, workshops, and continuing education opportunities in order to stay informed about library, information, and technology trends.
• Maintain constant awareness of the safety and security of staff and members of the public, taking steps to correct potential problems.
• Take pride in the library, ensuring it is clean, inviting, and in good repair.
• Contribute to monthly, annual, and other reports as needed.
• Accept other duties as assigned. 

Qualifications 

• College degree or an equivalent combination of training and library, shelving, and database experience.
• Basic knowledge of Windows operating system, standard PC application software, and Google products such as Gmail, Google docs, Google sheets and Google Calendar.
• Intermediate knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Effective at working in a collaborative team environment and on self-directed projects.
• Excellent customer service and active listening skills, and a commitment to always providing an exemplary user experience.
• Demonstrated written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Passion about public libraries and their tradition of sharing knowledge, literature, technology, and other resources. 

Position Requirements 

• Projects a positive, service-oriented, “can-do” attitude
• New Jersey residency required by the “New Jersey First Act”, N.J.S.A. 52:14-7 (L. 2011, Chapter 70).  If you do not reside in New Jersey, you have one year after the date you take your employment to relocate your residence to New Jersey.  If you do not do so, you are subject to removal from your position. 
• Ability to work with or without reasonable accommodation in a shared work area, to stand and move around for three or more hours at a time, and to lift 25 pounds from varying heights. This position requires the ability to walk, sit, bend, kneel, climb, push/pull on a daily basis. 
• Ability to perform extensive alphabetizing beyond the first letter of a word.
• Ability to perform numerical filing beyond the initial digit of a sequence of figures.
• Ability to work a minimum of one evening per week and two weekend days per month
• Bilingual Spanish language skills are helpful. 

Library Values 

• Learning and teaching
• Clarity and transparency
• Kindness and an assumption of good faith
• Humility and teamwork
• Creativity and collaboration
• Optimism and accountability 

Library Culture 

• We exceed our community members’ expectations. The exemplary customer service that we provide for our members and guests is what sets us apart from other libraries.
• We value diversity, equity and inclusion. The library is stronger when we bring varied perspectives to the work of serving a growing and increasingly diverse community.
• We innovate. The library’s staff, boards and stakeholders are bold and creative. We think about new ways to improve our community every day.
• We educate and enrich. We curate extraordinary collections and research tools, constantly develop our level of expertise and offer classes, lectures and events that complement these resources and services.
• We listen. We want to hear from everyone about how well we are doing in meeting their needs and how we can do better; we analyze evidence and question our assumptions and we commit ourselves fully to making thoughtful changes.
• We collaborate. We are eager to learn and love to lead. We consult with and support colleagues at other libraries and community partners in order to ensure our ability to implement the ideas that best meet our community members’ needs.
• We steward. The library is a beautiful, welcoming, versatile building and collection, a world class resource that is owned by our community, funded through public-private partnership and entrusted to the management of a dedicated and talented library staff.