Offered a library assistant job and unsure whether to accept

[CardiBTEC]

Around 4 months ago I interviewed for a library assistant job, the interview went really well so therefore I was quite disappointed when I found out they had had an internal candidate lined up the whole time.

I consoled myself afterwards by having a think about the interview and realising all the questions were customer service, almost a social worker type role for the customer based and barely about books at all (I am a massive bookworm, I’m always reading and was more interested in the literature/book side of the role) so I made my peace that it wasn’t for me.

Fast forward to this weekend…
I get a call from the woman that interviewed me saying the candidate they hired has left and do I want the job?
I asked for a few days to think about it…
I have no idea what to do! I would love a job that revolved around books, literature, organisation and data etc BUT the people in the interview alluded to the fact that they are basically unpaid social workers to the community and have to deal with some severely unpleasant members of the public, and didn’t mention books once!

Does anyone here work in a library or as a library assistant and tell me whether I’m going to love or hate this role?!

Have you actually been in a library recently?! Of course the job is more about helping people than anything to do with books, other than stamping and reshelving them.

I go to the library 3 times a week… and never see any of the librarians having to provide mental health support to members of the public, stop fights or call the police (all things that were alluded to happening in the role), hence why I’m asking.

Unfortunately though, the role isn’t for the library I usually go to. It’s in a more central area.

Surely the role will still have plenty to do with books and reading. And whatever this specific role is, it may give you the opportunity to move upwards/sideways into more book related roles. I think go for it!

Working in a community library will always be far more about the people than the books.

My local library has multiple children's groups each week, a group aimed at elderly people, and offer help for people who are not very computer literate. It's not unusual to call in and find the staff helping someone sign up to online accounts or ancestry DNA.

It does sometimes host talks about different areas of literature, but even then the staff are expected to chat with service users and make them feel welcome.

I've always thought it looked like a lovely job, but if you want a role more dedicated to literature you might be disappointed.

I saw few library assistant jobs around. They are customer service jobs. That should have ebeen clear from the advert so I would feedback to them if it wasn't. I think what you were lookimg for is librarian and that needs some qualifications and experience

My friend is a librarian and it's really hard work which surprised me but she does get a good lunch break and a morning and afternoon break too. A lot is computer work which she found hard to start with and an awful lot is sign posting pole to relevant help ,a bit like CAB. She's on her feet (and knees) a lot re stacking books she said which is tiring. She has to take baby rhyme tyme and a book club. Her library is in a very well to do area so not much police calling but I can imagine it happens.

ETA - she also has to go to other libraries to cover sickness.

OK well, I go to the library a lot too and I see the librarians frequently having to tell the teenagers who come in off for swearing, running around etc. So yes, depending on the area I would expect to have to deal with a bit of antisocial behaviour in the role.

Maybe a book shop assistant would be a better fit? Has anyone ever gone into a library and talked to staff about actual
books? My niece works in a gorgeous independent book shop. She loves it. And it’s all about the books.

If you’re unsure perhaps ask to speak to the hiring manager and say you wanted to understand honestly what the role might be like in practice, that you got the feeling that it would be more customer support/management and less book/reading focused and whether this was correct.

As another poster said, it could be a stepping stone into a different role within the library, but if they confirm your suspicions and it isn’t something you would want to do for any length of time then better to decline.

The job market is absolutely abysmal right now.

As pps say it might be a bit less "literature and dreaming spires" and more helping out slightly awkward people.

It definitely won't be the same scale as a front line social worker or a teacher though! And if your team is nice that will make all the difference.

Take the job for now, it will serve your CV well at least. If the conditions are good and the team is good I'd not chuck that in for the more glamorous sounding roles. You can find intellectual stimulation in another area of your life surely, online or a part time course?

Having spent some time in "high intellectual" environments, the people are absolute PITAs and the working conditions and pay can be dire (as they're the jobs all the posh arty students with trust funds will be willing to do for free).

I think the library I frequent must be an outlier because I always go in and chat about books with the librarians and they ask me what I’m reading and for recommendations 🫣

An independent bookshop sounds lovely! Unfortunately not many of them near me sadly.
Thanks everyone, I’m leaning more towards turning it down if I’m honest. The advert was definitely leaning more towards “a love of literature necessary!” kind of vibe and organisation/data POV (already my background) yet the interview was completely different. I was of course expecting to deal with the public and it be a customer facing role but to be told by the current assistant about stoically regularly dealing with members of the public covered in excrement did come as a bit of a shock…

it Depends on the library. The one I worked in had its own security guard but it didn't stop the mentally ill man threatening to cut my throat open. I would check whether you need to administer entitlement cards like bus passes and whether or not you have to help with the computers and printers. Those were the flash points at my library. I left and have never missed it.

If you like rules, regulations things in black and shite

along with some service

id go for it

yes you get difficult customers but most are there to get books and leave so 5% of the customers maybe under pleasant, but you’ll get that anywhere

some want to sleep in the library, others want printing and help with it.

if you are quick to learn and can hep people then you’ll be fine

i I found the work to book based and not enough variety

once you have your foot in the door you can easily move to other areas within the library. Home library is much more book based and less customer facing

But you get to meet people who love books. And get paid for it.

Yes I definitely will need to help with things like that. Thank you for sharing your experience.

I used to be a library assistant in the national library and it was a brilliant job. Hours spent in the stacks poking around! I’d say go for it as it’s a foot in the door and you can then qualify to be a librarian if you want. I come from a family of librarians and we all loved our jobs, though it doesn’t pay well.

The libraries in my area are a community hub as much as they are a place for books. It's a warm space in the winter so does get homeless people coming in for a warm drink. It also has computers that people in poverty come in to use. Multiple groups for socialising, baby groups, dementia choir, board games etc. I wouldn't go as far as saying it's a social worker role but you may need to be contacting social services as you may be the first point of contact for someone in need.

The books are still there, there are nice displays set up and books of the month. It has a reading club. You visit your library regularly, you will know better than people here what the experience is likely to be in your library.

I loved working as a library assistant.
Yes we had a few tricky people to deal with but there was also lots of book chat. And you knew sometimes that you had lifted a lonely person's day by having a chat.

Presumably they wanted to make sure you knew about all the downsides, rather than just the rose-tinted stuff.

Agree, it's a foot in the door in an area you'd love to work in.

Do you have another job?

The national library will be a completely different vibe from a local town library.

in fact id go as far as saying much more along the lines of an archive than a library

local town libraries get used by every demographic, from old men wanting to sit and watch pop videos all afternoon on the pc with headphones to mums and toddlers arriving for rhyme time

Actual librarians (as opposed to people who work on the library as assistants) are the ones who do the work of choosing books etc. It’s a specialist area and requires (usually) postgrad qualifications in librarianship or information management.

Like all professions it’s very easy to have a romantic view of what it would entail, but most jobs involve a lot of dealing with people, internal or external, conflict resolution, and time in front of computers. These days, when libraries are largely staffed by volunteers and also act as hubs for information and assistance, it’s not really a surprise that a library assistant role is mainly focussed on customer service.

What have you got to lose by taking it? It's not clear what your current situation is, but this might be the job you're looking for. If it isn't, then assuming you aren't already in the kind of job you want, or would be giving up a job you love / is secure, then what do you have to lose? Yes it might be rubbish but if it is... Leave!

Not currently employed, however have another job (more corporate, non-customer facing) lined up in September ready for when my son starts full time school.

Libraries vary hugely. I have done a lot of voluntary work of different kinds which has involved lots of contact with libraries and librarians.

Is the job purely a librarian role? Many libraries now also have to double as tourist information and a customer service hub for their local Council so you may end up spending more time handing out bus timetables or new waste bins. This is probably less likely in a central library but the downside of that is indeed that many now have dedicated security and do have a lot of problems with homeless or unwell individuals using it as place to nap - fine if they are quiet I guess but not when they are annoying members of the public or refusing to move from the beanbags in the kids' area.

The library assistants I know (sorry - customer service assistants as they are now) do seem to enjoy their jobs and we do chat about books and authors. They do lots of displays, events and activities but they do also seem to spend increasing amounts of time sorting out photocopying, printing and helping people with the PCs there. The book borrowers generally seem lovely and the people there for council services usually have a problem, which can translate into them being frustrated or annoyed when they don't get an immediate or acceptable solution to their problem.