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About Barnet Council

Barnet is a borough with much to be proud of. Our excellent schools, vibrant town centres, vast green spaces, and diverse communities all help make it a wonderful place to live and work. As a council we want to build on these strengths as we move into the future. We are growing and developing as an organisation to meet the challenges facing our borough and we are committed to working with partner organisations and residents to make Barnet even better. As an organisation, our staff are committed to Our Values: Caring, Learning to Improve, Inclusive, Collaborate.

About the role

• To welcome all library customers and identify their individual needs, to provide a quality service and to enable customers to make full use of the facilities available.
  
  • To help produce resources and guidance for customers in volunteer supported and technology enabled opening hours.
  • To interact with customers throughout their visit, and assist them with the use of self-service equipment and other services and systems.
  • To provide and help to organise an efficient library and information service in the library where you are working under the direction of the Library Customer Services Manager/Assistant Library Customer Services Manager, ensuring that agreed standards of service are met.
  • To be responsible for a library and its operations in the absence of senior staff.
  • To deliver library events and activities as directed.
  • To respond to information queries from the general public

About you

You should have excellent customer care skills and an interest in literacy and reading as well as an ability to deliver a wide range of events and activities to children and adults - for example Baby Rhyme Time, reading groups and IT sessions.

You will also need to be confident in building relationships with local stakeholders, partners, and community groups to identify opportunities to work together.

Effective communication skills are a necessity together with good listening skills to ensure that you can deal with customer enquiries and queries appropriately.

You will be required to carry out a range of administrative tasks and library routines, so the ability to learn and to work quickly and accurately under pressure is essential. You will need to be able to adapt and respond to a complex, ever-changing environment, taking opportunities to improve the way things are done.

Part of your role also includes being a key holder so you may be required at times to open or close the library, therefore being punctual and reliable is essential. Library work is varied and can involve working on your own, as well as working with teams both locally and across the borough, so you need the ability to motivate yourself for both types of work. Although the job will have a base location/locality and a regular rota, you will be expected to work flexibly including working on Saturdays and provide cover at any one of the Barnet libraries. You will also be required to work till 8pm on certain days of the week.

• 30 days annual leave, plus public and bank holidays
• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme, which provides a valuable guaranteed income in your retirement together with security for your dependents
• Work-life balance options may include hybrid working, flexitime, job share, home working, part-time
• A vast range of lifestyle discounts from major retailers, supermarkets, energy suppliers and more
• Broad range of payroll benefits including cycle to work, eye care vouchers, travel and gym membership
• Excellent training and development opportunities
• Employee well- being training programs including confidential employee assistance

How to apply

Read the job description and person specification before clicking ‘Apply’ to commence the online application form. If you would like any further information about the role before applying, please contact [email protected]

There are two positions at locations NW9 4BR and NW4 4BQ.

Barnet Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Barnet operates stringent safer recruitment procedures.

To deliver Barnet Council’s commitment to equality of opportunity in the provision of services, all staff are expected to promote equality in the workplace and in the services the Council delivers. As such we value diversity and welcome applications from all backgrounds. For further information, please read our equality statement.

Barnet Council embraces all forms of flexible working (including part-time, compressed hours, and remote working) and is committed to offering employees a healthy work-life balance. Candidates are encouraged to talk about relevant requirements and preferences at interview. We can’t promise to give you exactly what you want, but we do promise not to judge you for asking.

Barnet Council is a Disability Confident Committed Employer. We welcome and encourage job applications of all abilities. If you require any reasonable adjustments in the application or interview, please contact the lead contact on this advert. We will make reasonable adjustments to make sure our disabled applicants and those with health conditions are supported throughout our recruitment process. We support the access to work scheme, further details are available at www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply

All posts with the council are subject to a probationary period of six months, during which time you will be required to demonstrate to the council satisfaction your suitability for the position in which you will be employed.
Due to the high number of applications that are received for some posts we may close vacancies before the stated closing date if sufficient number of applications are received. Therefore, please apply as soon as possible.

Please ensure you regularly check the email account (including JUNK MAIL folders) that you use to submit your application, as any further communication regarding your application will be sent electronically. Should you not hear from us within four working weeks of the closing date for this post, then regretfully in this instance, you have not been shortlisted.