Job Description
Seeking an energetic and creative professional to join the Children’s Services Department and Family Place area for the new 21st Century Library. This is an exciting opportunity to help create a community center for early childhood information, parent education, socialization, emergent literacy, and family support, making the library a “destination” for families with young children in our community. This position operates in a diverse environment to help fulfill PPLD’s mission by providing children’s programming, children’s reference, readers’ advisory services and a focus on training Every Child Ready to Read. This position uses comprehensive knowledge of library science, the PPLD children’s collection, electronic databases, current technologies, and community resources.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
- Responsible for coordinating, planning, scheduling and contracting with performers for a monthly Family Fun program at each of fourteen libraries (140 programs), 35 Spring Break programs, and 170 summer reading programs, based on appropriate developmental stages. This also involves coordinating crafts to go with many of the programs.
- Provides expertise regarding children’s developmental stages, interests, community needs and children’s literature.
- Works on the public service desks providing reference service to walk-ins, over the phone, and via electronic delivery, references services includes reference and reader’s advisory services with age-appropriate materials and online searches for children, caregivers and educators.
- Creates, promotes, and presents children’s programming (focuses on developmental needs, interests, and promoting children’s literacy to parents and other adults and caregivers).
- Promotes library services and materials through age-appropriate tours, publicity, displays and merchandising; collaborates with schools and provides outreach.
- Develops reading lists, pathfinders, booktalks or other creative means to make the children’s collection more accessible.
- Collaborates with schools or community groups and provides outreach to communicate services and programs.
- Coordinates a major function in the preparation of Summer Reading Program (see #1 above) Suggests Children’s collection materials based on PPLD’s collection guidelines and policies, examines Children’s collection for replacement and/or removal of materials.
- May manage Children’s collection materials (i.e., storytelling collection, literacy kits, reference).
- May organize and conduct projects related to departmental goals and needs.
- Performs other job-related duties and projects as assigned.
HR Info
Any questions, can be directed to: (719) 884-9800 ext 6994.
- Prefer a candidate with a minimum of one year of library or other public service work experience, prefer a candidate with experience in Every Child Ready to Read training; prefer candidates that have experience working with children in a library setting. SIRSI experience is a plus!
- Knowledge of children’s development stages, interests, community needs, and children’s literature; and the ability to promote library resources and programs for children
- Excellent communication skills, demonstrates a “whatever-it-takes” work ethic, and models an excellent customer service attitude.
- Bilingual ability is a plus in serving our diverse community