Job summary
We are seeking to appoint a dedicated and enthusiastic individual to work as a Library Assistant at Whittington Health Library. The Library provides services to Whittington Health, Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust, primary care in North Central London and UCL and Middlesex University students on placement at the Whittington Hospital site.
The post is line managed by the Whittington Health Librarian.
Under the direction of the Librarian, the post-holder will be responsible for providing an excellent standard of service to all library members and visitors, both on site and online.
The Library Assistant role is customer-focused and requires excellent communication and inter-personal skills. Strong IT skills are needed. The successful applicant will have a positive approach to teamwork and a good eye for detail. Experience of working with library and administrative systems, such as Koha, inter-library loans and ATHENS account administration will be an advantage.
The post may require some working before 9.00 am and one evening shift a week that ends at 7.00pm.
The post could be filled by 1 person full-time (37.5 hours a week) or as a job share.
Main duties of the job
Under the direction of the Library Manager, the post-holder is responsible for providing an excellent standard of service to all library members and visitors. Duties include being the first point of contact for Library visitors and directing them to appropriate resources, following detailed procedures relating to Library memberships, loan and return of books, requests to other libraries and adding new books to stock. The post will also have a role in Financial systems.
About us
Whittington Health serves a richly diverse population and works hard to ensure that all our services are fair and equally accessible to everyone. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the way we look after our staff. We aim to employ a workforce which is as representative as possible of this population, so we are open to the value of differences in age, disability, gender, marital status, pregnancy and maternity, race, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. The Trust believes that as a public sector organisation we have an obligation to have recruitment, training, promotion and other formal employment policies and procedures that are sensitive to these differences. We think that by doing so, we are better able to treat our patients as well as being a better place to work.
Job description
Job responsibilities
- To provide a welcome to all library members, potential members and visitors and create a positive first impression of the library
- To maintain an appropriate atmosphere and level of noise within the library environment, including the computing area and quiet study area in line with library policy.
- To manage the circulation of physical library stock by issuing and checking in books at the library counter and assisting in the use of the self-issue kiosk. To deal with book requests, overdue books and fines. To provide statistical information for the library manager on membership and use of the library stock. To accurately enter library membership records.
- To shelve books and maintain the order of a section of shelving.
- To provide assistance to resolve library enquiries or issues from users using a broad range of skills, knowledge of Library policies and the levels of services for different user groups. To refer enquiries to senior colleagues where appropriate.
- To assist library users with evidence-based resources such as the National NHS Knowledge & Library Hub, online journals and books, referring more complex enquiries to senior colleagues.
- To contribute to the provision of current awareness services to NHS staff, including setting up and administering KnowledgeShare accounts.
- To manage the inter-library loan request system, receiving electronically-submitted requests from users and other libraries, referring requests to the most appropriate suppliers and ensure supply to library users in line with library policies. To provide management information on the use of the inter-library loan service.
- To administer of ATHENS accounts for NHS users and students on or preparing for placement. This will include setting up accounts, renewing and deleting accounts and dealing with enquiries over eligibility and access to resources.
- To assist in the management of the library book ordering process.
- To catalogue and classify new library materials to agreed standards, using the National Library of Medicine classification scheme. To make books ready for the shelves, including preparation of RFID tags.
- To explain the facilities provided by the range of self-service equipment and provide training to library members in their use. This will the library catalogue, book self-issue machine, MFDs and laptop loan kiosks.
- To provide administrative support, including work relating to handling cash payments, acting as a requisitioner on the Trust payment system, ordering and receiving items, maintaining timetables, diaries and databases, collecting statistics and general office duties.
- Provide initial AV/IT equipment support including set-up for student and academic use as appropriate and to act as the first point-of-call for enquiries over wireless access.
- To carry out checks on library facilities and equipment, including print and copy equipment, and either resolve issues or report / escalate in line with agreed procedures.
- Attend and contribute to meetings, team briefings, projects and committees as appropriate.
- To pursue a programme of personal professional development by attending study days, internal and external courses and training activities in line with agreed objectives. This will include information skills training.
- To maintain and update a database of Whittington Health research publications and upload publications to the UCL Discovery Plus research repository.
To undertake any other duties and specific projects as may reasonably be required by the Library Manager
Job description
Job responsibilities
- To provide a welcome to all library members, potential members and visitors and create a positive first impression of the library
- To maintain an appropriate atmosphere and level of noise within the library environment, including the computing area and quiet study area in line with library policy.
- To manage the circulation of physical library stock by issuing and checking in books at the library counter and assisting in the use of the self-issue kiosk. To deal with book requests, overdue books and fines. To provide statistical information for the library manager on membership and use of the library stock. To accurately enter library membership records.
- To shelve books and maintain the order of a section of shelving.
- To provide assistance to resolve library enquiries or issues from users using a broad range of skills, knowledge of Library policies and the levels of services for different user groups. To refer enquiries to senior colleagues where appropriate.
- To assist library users with evidence-based resources such as the National NHS Knowledge & Library Hub, online journals and books, referring more complex enquiries to senior colleagues.
- To contribute to the provision of current awareness services to NHS staff, including setting up and administering KnowledgeShare accounts.
- To manage the inter-library loan request system, receiving electronically-submitted requests from users and other libraries, referring requests to the most appropriate suppliers and ensure supply to library users in line with library policies. To provide management information on the use of the inter-library loan service.
- To administer of ATHENS accounts for NHS users and students on or preparing for placement. This will include setting up accounts, renewing and deleting accounts and dealing with enquiries over eligibility and access to resources.
- To assist in the management of the library book ordering process.
- To catalogue and classify new library materials to agreed standards, using the National Library of Medicine classification scheme. To make books ready for the shelves, including preparation of RFID tags.
- To explain the facilities provided by the range of self-service equipment and provide training to library members in their use. This will the library catalogue, book self-issue machine, MFDs and laptop loan kiosks.
- To provide administrative support, including work relating to handling cash payments, acting as a requisitioner on the Trust payment system, ordering and receiving items, maintaining timetables, diaries and databases, collecting statistics and general office duties.
- Provide initial AV/IT equipment support including set-up for student and academic use as appropriate and to act as the first point-of-call for enquiries over wireless access.
- To carry out checks on library facilities and equipment, including print and copy equipment, and either resolve issues or report / escalate in line with agreed procedures.
- Attend and contribute to meetings, team briefings, projects and committees as appropriate.
- To pursue a programme of personal professional development by attending study days, internal and external courses and training activities in line with agreed objectives. This will include information skills training.
- To maintain and update a database of Whittington Health research publications and upload publications to the UCL Discovery Plus research repository.
To undertake any other duties and specific projects as may reasonably be required by the Library Manager
Person Specification
Education / Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to A level standard or equivalent or substantial relevant work experience.
Skills & Abilities
Essential
- To have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including tact and persuasive skills
- Good IT skills, word processing and use of web-based resources -ECDL or equivalent
Knowledge & Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with a range of work procedures and practices, many of which will be non-routine
- To have experience of dealing with customers in a customer service role
Person Specification
Education / Qualifications
Essential
- Educated to A level standard or equivalent or substantial relevant work experience.
Skills & Abilities
Essential
- To have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, including tact and persuasive skills
- Good IT skills, word processing and use of web-based resources -ECDL or equivalent
Knowledge & Experience
Essential
- Experience of working with a range of work procedures and practices, many of which will be non-routine
- To have experience of dealing with customers in a customer service role
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
