Library Assistant

Role Overview & Responsibilities

Salary: £22,197 with progression to £23,662 per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits . We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 10 April 2023

The Role

As a member of the Library’s Customer Services team, to assist in providing high quality information enquiry and circulation services to support University teaching and research, by providing help and advice on a range of library enquiries, registering library users, and issuing smartcards to staff, students and other users of the University Library service.

You will possess a minimum of 5 GCSEs at grade C or above or equivalent and have an awareness of the use of IT in library services. Possession of a City and Guilds Library Assistant’s Certificate and/or an NVQ Level 2 or equivalent qualification would be desirable.

Weekend and evening work, including bank holidays and University closure days, will be required. You may work at any Library site but you can expect to work mainly between the Philip Robinson and Law libraries.

Informal enquiries to Anne Middleton, anne.middleton@ncl.ac.uk , 0191 208 5180

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/library/

Key Accountabilities

Dealing with enquiries at the service and reception desks, as the first library public service point of contact. This includes dealing with visitors to the Library, and answering enquiries from the general public

Undertaking enquiry work at library service points as well as answering e-mail, telephone and online user enquiries. Enquiries will include detailed subject enquiries, and individual instruction of library users, requiring an extensive knowledge of print, internet and other electronic information

Issuing smartcards to all members of the University requiring them for security or access, using the University smartcard system. This involves ensuring eligibility, dealing with lost/stolen cards and resolving queries with the help of Customer Services supervisors

Registering library members to enable them to borrow library material. This involves using the library management system, entering data and resolving queries where possible

Providing help and advice on circulation matters to library members, in person and by phone, to support University teaching and research. This ranges from dealing with queries regarding reservations and loan enquiries to photocopying and catalogue enquiries

Issuing and returning library materials using the library management system, to support University teaching and research

Handling payment of library fines, membership fees, photocopying credits, invoices for lost books and other library charges. Sending collected cash to the Library Accounts Section

Assisting in the administration and development of one or more of the following areas: Student Texts Collection; Inter-Library Loans; registration; enquiry services; notices and overdues; holds service; reading lists including ordering and digitization of course materials; CLA scanning; library promotional activities

Assisting in training new staff in library procedures, use of the library management system and smartcard database

Assisting in the opening and closing of the Library building and undertaking emergency evacuations

Shelving, tidying, filing, processing and moving of library materials and monitoring equipment to ensure it is readily available for library users

Ensuring the good order of the Library, by monitoring and carrying out Incidental cleaning, troubleshooting basic problems with library equipment, and, where applicable, reporting faults

Assisting in library induction and outreach activities, including group and individual library tours to explain the services and facilities available to staff, students and visitors

Other duties as assigned by the University Library Senior Library Assistants, consistent with the agreed range of duties for Library Assistants

Will be required to work at any of the Library’s sites. Weekend and evening work, including bank holidays and University closure days, will also be required

The Person (Essential)

Knowledge,

Skills and

Experience

Good awareness of the range of library services and subject resources both printed and electronic that are available

Awareness of the use of IT in library services

Ability to work independently using one’s own initiative whilst working effectively as a team member

Good IT skills using Microsoft Office packages; highly developed web searching skills and information searching/retrieval skills

Understanding of, and commitment to, excellent customer service

Good interpersonal, organisational and communication skills

Good customer care skills

Experience of working in a Library or equivalent busy face-to-face customer service environment, e.g. retail, financial services.

Mobility and physical fitness consistent with the need to handle large numbers of books and to move equipment.

Ability to work accurately and under pressure

Attributes and Behaviour

Communicating

Chooses communication tools appropriately e.g. selective

use of emails and other channels of communication

Uses face to face communication regularly

Team-working

Shares relevant and useful information with others

Supportive of team decisions

Respects the value that different views bring to the team

Understanding Others

Adapts own response to take into account cultural differences, behaviours and perspectives

Uses open-ended questions to open up discussions

Delivering Services

Co-operates with others in achieving targets

Takes responsibility for achieving own targets

Has a positive attitude for doing things better

Qualifications

Minimum of 5 GCSEs at grade C or above, or equivalent

Newcastle is an inclusive global University community where everyone is treated with dignity and respect. As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.

The University holds a silver Athena S wan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University is also a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.

Requisition ID: 25228

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