Lead Librarian

Description

Closing date for this recruitment is 9/11/2024 at 11:59 PM Pacific

The City
The City of Carlsbad, known as “The Village by the Sea,” is a charming seaside community located in North San Diego County that offers its over 115,000 residents a great place to live, with over 50 miles of hiking trails, a wide variety of housing options, world-class library services, and excellent schools. Carlsbad’s comprehensive economy and positive quality of life creates an atmosphere of opportunity and prosperity for its residents. 

The City of Carlsbad embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace and recognizes the vital relationship of a culturally diverse, engaged work environment and innovative excellence. A diverse, equitable, and inclusive work climate comprises personal experiences, values, and views shaped from differences of culture and circumstance. Our organization appreciates the belonging, creativity, recognition, and retention of its employees and is committed to hiring and developing motivated, productive, and talented employees who provide services and enhance our quality of life. We work to embrace open and equitable access to opportunities for learning and development as our responsibility and goal. 

The Library
The Library & Cultural Arts Department provides educational, informational, and cultural services for all community residents, and contributes to a high quality of life by supporting lifelong learning, the pursuit of knowledge, and an environment conducive to community gathering. The Library & Cultural Arts Department operates three public facilities that include the Carlsbad City Library, the Georgina Cole Library, and the Library Learning Center, along with presenting public art throughout the community. The Carlsbad City Library is also home to the Ruby G. Schulman Auditorium, George and Patricia Gowland Meeting Room, and the Cannon Art Gallery, which supports a variety of visual and performing arts programs, arts education, and cultural arts services.  

The Position 
The Library is currently seeking an experienced and team-oriented supervisor to serve as Lead Librarian of Public Services under the direction of the Senior Librarian. Public Services staff assist patrons with library services, provides technology assistance, present programs and instruction, and coordinate outreach and other programming efforts. Staff also select and deselect library materials. 

The ideal candidate will have proven abilities and experience supervising and developing professional and paraprofessional staff as well as conceptualizing, developing and providing a variety of library services, programs and outreach to adults, teens and/or children. The Library is looking for an enthusiastic professional with excellent interpersonal and empathetic and respectful communication skills to guide strong community partnerships and is able to foster the same skills in staff. In addition, desirable traits include strengths in developing and standardizing training across the facility. The individual should be forward thinking, an optimistic go-getter and exhibit flexibility. They will also be able to receive and internalize feedback from multiple sources. Understand confidentiality, assume positive intent and react to stressful situations in a professional manner. 

Requirements

The following are examples of the types of job duties that may be found in Library Professional roles:

Patron Services 

• Provide excellent customer service through active listening, empathy and respect.
• Respond to information requests that are in person, over the phone, via chat, or other virtual media to answer questions, locate information and train the public in using the library's resources.
• Recommend and locate library materials appropriate to library users' needs.
• Provide instruction in the use of various print, electronic and online resources.
• Develop and deliver technology related instruction.
• Train, schedule and develop staff around patron services. 

Advocacy 

• Plan and perform outreach services to community organizations and educational institutions to increase awareness of library resources and services and learn about community needs.
• Represent the service area or the library at meetings of library, city, community and professional associations. 

Supervisory 

• Recruit, select, schedule and train full time professional librarians, para-professional or clerical staff and/or volunteers. Approve timecards.
• Supervise the work of and actively coach staff engaged in providing various library services.
• Provide input into development and disciplinary matters.
• Manage the budget for a program, functional or specialized area or division.
• Lead and participate on committees and teams.
• Identify and resolve difficult interactions involving members of the public by interpreting, explaining, and enforcing Library rules, regulations, policies, and procedures; may contact law enforcement or other emergency services during critical events or safety issues.
• Act as the person in charge of a library facility primarily on evenings and weekends. 

Administrative 

• Plan, manage and administer professional library services.
• Analyze community needs, develop project proposals for modifying or extending library services and present to management; implement and manage special projects.
• Prepare grant requests and implement grants related to program and collection development. Monitor grant expenditures and prepares reports.
• Manage programming; schedule, attend and/or present training and education seminars, workshops and classes for Library and city-related skills.
• Keep current on library trends by reading and/or reviewing data, statistical information, and professional materials, and by participating in professional associations and conferences to identify emerging community issues.
• Participate in the development of online resources and their delivery.
• Prepare reports based on the collection and analysis of relevant data for library activity. 

Perform other duties as assigned.

Experience & Education

Any combination equivalent to experience and education that could likely provide the required knowledge, skills, and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to obtain the knowledge, skills, and abilities would be: 

• A Masters of Library Science or a Masters of Library and Information Systems from an American Library Association Accredited library school.
• Two years of professional library work experience is required to qualify for the Lead Librarian level, including a minimum of one year of prior library supervisory experience.

May require specialized training in assigned division.