Librarian - Books, Reading and Culture

Are you genuinely passionate about books and reading and have an ability to communicate this with colleagues and customers?

Do you have dynamic teamworking skills?

Do you understand the importance of reader development, and a desire to influence service delivery and strategy?

We're looking for a Librarian to join our Books, Reading and Culture team.

Salary: £27,334 to £29,777 per annum with entitlement to Saturday Enhancement to working 7 hours 30 minutes for 1 in 2 Saturdays.

Are you a Chartered Librarian? If you hold chartered status, you will be paid Grade 8 - £30,296 to £33,024 per annum.

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full-time (37 hours per week)

Location: Chichester Library Tower Street, Chichester, PO19 1QJ

Interview Date: 02 May 2024

The Library Service is statutory and universal, providing access to books and information. We promote the benefits of reading for learning, health and wellbeing through campaigns, events and activities. We help people get online and navigate the digital world. We provide targeted services for hard to reach or vulnerable groups and we offer services to support employment and enterprise. Our online platforms offer a download service for books, newspapers and magazines, plus access to trusted information resources.

Our library staff and volunteers change people's lives for the better every day, and being part of leading the service offers huge job satisfaction.

West Sussex libraries deliver essential community-based support, promoting the benefits of reading for everyone, offering a comprehensive service to inspire children and families to use their local library and realising the opportunities for our libraries to meet the needs of vulnerable or older adults in our communities.

You will need to be able to travel independently around the county, including to areas that may not be easily accessible by public transport. Pool cars and pool bikes available.

The Opportunity

As a Librarian, you will play a key role in determining and implementing the priorities of the Books, Reading and Culture team across all West Sussex Libraries.

You will be considered a subject matter expert as you promote books and benefits of reading through library campaigns, online channels such as social media and e-Newsletters, and through local press and radio.

You will actively participate in stock management of libraries in the Chichester and Bognor area and work with library teams to help staff maintain and display their collections effectively.

The ideal candidate will be a passionate advocate for Libraries and will coordinate reader development activity, such as author talks, work with literary festivals, reading groups and promote reading challenges.

If you are a proactive individual with excellent communication and pragmatic problem-solving skills, we want to hear from you!

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the Job Description attached.

Rewards and Benefits

As an employer we recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive and dynamic working environment where employees can achieve their full potential, achieve a healthy work-life balance and are rewarded for the work they do.

Along with a generous holiday entitlement of 27 days plus opportunity to buy additional leave).

Upon joining us you will have access to a range of benefits including the following:

• A excellent local government pension scheme
• A range of flexible working options, depending on your job role
• Maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave
• volunteering opportunities
• Training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
• A range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform (see ourStaff discounts page if you are a business looking to offer a discount)
• Health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and Voluntary Health Cash Plans.

Further Information

The reference number for this role is CPP00908.

Does this sound like the opportunity for you? Click apply below, upload your CV, and complete the application form, explaining how you meet the key skills in the attached job description and experience you can bring to the role.

Please ensure all that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV.

Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to 5 years referencing, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.