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?!

Alot of councils have merged their Library service with a kind of reception for all their services ( often called a One Stop or Community Hub) if this is the case you will be signposting and doing lots of tasks completely unrelated to books. You could also be meeting people when they are angry, distressed or in crisis.

My mother was a library assistant and a good friend worked in a book shop. Both said if you love books and reading, great but dont expect that from those jobs! They are customer service/retail jobs like any other, they just happen to be in a place with books.

I imagine in interview they wanted to be clear about some of the challenges of the job - lest they get someone focussed on the books and talking literature who can’t deal with people. Libraries are one of the few places people can go for free that are warm, where they can access community resources and so you’ll have a cross section of society using them. You’ll need to be able to deal with all people respectfully and with compassion, and have decent conflict resolution skills.

Its in no way like being a social worker though, and quite insulting to those who have done the very demanding training to be one.

Thanks all, you’ve all been massively helpful 💐

I think jobs in university or specialist research libraries would be more aligned to your expectations - though as a previous poster said, these tend to require formal librarianship qualifications even for assistant roles, and can be very competitive. With council and community libraries, there will be book-related library duties, of course; but like any customer-facing role, particularly one which offers a service free at point of delivery to anyone who happens to walk in, there will always be some challenging situations to deal with which require empathy, sensitivity, and sometimes getting other services involved if you have a concern. Homeless people often use the library as somewhere to go during the day; you’ll have customers who are clearly vulnerable - including children and young people - and may raise safeguarding concerns; you’ll have people asking for information and help and signposting, often not book-related.

That doesn’t mean it’s all going to be like that: you’ll also be supporting external activities the library hosts like baby groups and book clubs, helping people using library computers, setting up for book-themed events like World Book Day, feeding back to managers about themes and trends you’ve seen in terms of customer requests for books and facilities to guide library strategy. But it definitely won’t be as much about literature and enthusing with customers about reading as you’d initially hoped.

Librarian here. Most library jobs are about people not books. Public libraries are different to other libraries, but this job would give you experience to step into academic, schools or specialist libraries, or an independent bookshop in the future.

Yes i work in a library! You will know which library you are based at and what's it like! I love my job. Of course you talk to borrowers about books! You may also run chatterbooks, baby rhyme times..do school assemblies or facilitate school visits. You may run book clubs for adults. You may turf out teenagers or deal with arsey people. You may have a chance to move to stock team. Its really a varied job..pay not great! Ask me anything!

I wouldn't quit a job for it, but if you arent working I would definitely try it and see how it goes.

I’d go for the other job, likely to have Xmas off when libraries will be open and ruled by cllrs who want you in until the last minute on Xmas eve etc

Former librarian here. The job has changed massively since I was a library assistant who qualified and worked my way up to be a branch librarian. When I began it was about helping people with reading and books, answering queries and literature based work. We also did what were called "outreach" activities such as talks on various subjects and many children;s activities - quizzes, crafts and so on.

I left librarianship in the early 1980s to attend uni. The initial plan was to do a degree and return to the profession with a better chance of advancement. However many things happened in those 3 years I was an undergraduate. Councils were strapped for cash and were de-valuing services like libraries, museums and art galleries. Or looking for ways they could cut staff and monetize them. The entire nature of the profession was changing and I saw the writing on the wall. I never went back into librarianship. I went into academia and my former experience gave me tremendous advantages when it came to being a researcher.

One of the libraries where I was a branch librarian has now been demolished. Another, a beautiful Edwardian Carnegie building is now re-modelled as a community center. Librarianship now is all about helping people tiouse computers, search for jobs, access various council services, fill up benefit forms and so on. Most hire out rooms to different groups and libraries are no longer places for quiet reading. They are mainly staffed by volunteers who, with the best will in the world, cannot provide the service that a qualified librarian could.

So if you take the library assistant job you will still have access to books and helping readers with their literature choices. But there are many other aspects to the job now which I would not recognise. Nevertheless it is still considered a highly desirable job and many people would love to work there.

This is a great, balanced view and echoing my concerns I think. Thank you

I second the remarks made by one of PP up thread that if you want a literature based library job you would need to aim for an academic or university/specialist library. And yes - such jobs do tend to prefer a degree in Library and Information Science or previous experience. University libraries are the only places which I would recognise as the kind of place I worked in as a professional librarian.

I'm not a librarian but I work in the same building as the town's central library. The library assistants here do tend to spend quite a bit of time dealing with customers, including helping with IT and printing, supporting immigrants who need to get their paperwork sorted on the computers, and signing people up to the system. Most are pleasant but we do get difficult angry customers and customers who need signposting to mental health services, or customers who mistake us for the council office! However at the town's local libraries, the work is more about running children's Rhyme Time and story times and assisting with book groups.

I work part-time in a library and love it.
Book- related activities occupy a tiny fraction of my time. The vast majority is spent helping people to use computers and print things.

While I was doing my 1st degree a friend of mine was taking a course at one of the new universities to a "conversion" to library and information science degree. She had a spell working in a major reference library and then got a job in the local university library. She was attracted to the research and literature side of the profession and had no inclination for the "helping the public" side. This is one of the ways in which the profession has diversified. To work in a public library you have to be a customer service oriented person. To work i a reference or university library you need to be an academic with degree level qualifications.

I always loved the intellectual side to the job - learning to catalogue and classify books, compiling reading lists and bibliographies and dealing with complex queries.

How about having another chat with your prospective employers about the role outlining your concerns and seeing if they can include additional duties/amend the role to suit you more? It sounds as if they need you, so use that to your advantage. Good luck