Library Assistant

The University of Buckingham has a unique atmosphere, unlike that of any other higher educational institution. Despite being the UK’s smallest university and the only independent university to hold a Royal Charter, Buckingham has staff from over 25 countries, making it a truly distinctive work environment. Whichever of our locations you find yourself working in, you will be sure to feel a part of our friendly community. Our size enables us to foster a very personalised, supportive, inclusive and collaborative environment, with lots of opportunity for development, something which we are very proud of.

The Corporate and Professional Services departments are the cornerstone of the University. They each provide essential and valuable support to both each other and the Academic departments, helping the University to function in the most efficient and productive way, ensuring that the students’ experience is second to none.

The University of Buckingham is looking to recruit a Library Assistant for our Buckingham campus to support our students, academics and other staff. The successful applicant will ideally have experience in Library work, be good at time management and confident working independently. Experience of working in a customer facing role is essential. The post also requires a working knowledge of Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams.

The Library Assistant will contribute to a wide range of activities that help support the University’s academic standards and enhance the students’ learning experience and promote the Library service. You will be required to work flexibly on a wide variety of tasks, including basic administration and finance, book ordering and processing, assisting with public events and exhibitions and social media posts.

The role involves physical work such as shelving books and moving stock around the library. You will be required to assist with student inductions. You may be required to work an evening shift, weekend or on a Bank holiday.

You will report to the University Librarians and liaise with the Senior Library Assistant and help them in providing resources and services to the staff and students.
- What can we offer you?_

We might be small, but we can still offer plenty of perks In addition to an Aviva Pension scheme, we offer:

- Beautiful working environments across our campuses in Buckingham and Crewe, with plenty of space
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Christmas closure
- On-site gym and exercise classes
- On-site catering facilities
- University bookshop with staff discount (Buckingham)
- Free access to LinkedIn Learning courses
- Free on-site parking
- Excellent opportunities to network and continue learning across a variety of departments
- Nursery on-site at our Crewe campus
- Discount of courses for staff and their families

**Role Purpose**:
To work as part of the Library team to provide excellent customer service support to staff, students and other colleagues working within our libraries.

Provide assistance to library users in accessing and locating resources to support their learning.

Provide support to the Library services team and promote the Library service.

**Skills & Experience**:
**Experience and Knowledge**

Education to minimum A level standard or equivalent

Enthusiastic and positive attitude with flexible approach

Previous Library experience desirable but not essential

Experience of working in a customer facing role essential

Able to deal with a variety of people in a professional manner

Good IT skills with Office 365, especially Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams

Manual handling and shelving

**Communication**

Excellent customer service skills

Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Ability to communicate confidently in a range of scenarios and at all levels

**Liaison**

Able to liaise with other professional services, departments and academic schools within the University and external organisations.

Able to assist students, academics and visitors to the University

**Decision Making**

Excellent organisational skills - able to prioritise workload

**Initiative**

Will need to use judgement on student’s loans, fines and other library related matters.

Suggest improvements in clerical processes