General Purpose
Under general supervision, is responsible for assisting in the administration of a branch or main library department of the Detroit Public Library (DPL); assists with the supervision of the day-to-day operations, staffing, planning, and implementation of assigned children/youth services program area; ensures quality customer service; maintains and organizes a relevant collection of library materials; provides relevant programs for the community; and participates in and supports organizational goals, policies, and guidelines
Supervision
Works under the general supervision of assigned Library – coordinator or manager; and does exercise supervisory responsibility.
Primary Responsibilities
The following duties ARE NOT intended to serve as a comprehensive list of all duties performed by all employees in this classification, only a representative summary of the primary duties and responsibilities. Incumbent(s) may not be required to perform all duties listed and may be required to perform additional, position-specific duties.
In children/youth services area of assignment:
- Supervises, coordinates, schedules, assigns, and inspects the daily work activities of assigned staff; coaches, trains and motivates staff; and coordinates and/or provides staff training.
- Assists with managing and prepares the daily workflow and prioritization of projects and staff; measures the performance of the unit and staff and recommends or suggests appropriate corrective action when necessary; provides advice and counsel to staff; develops developmental work plans for staff; recommends corrective actions and discipline procedures as appropriate or necessary.
- Drafts and completes weekly sign-in sheets for staff members; completes bi-weekly timesheets for payroll office; creates work schedules due to illness or other emergency or unforeseen changes in employee’s personal schedule.
- Provides reference services in assigned children/youth services program area; analyzes customer requests to determine needed information; assists in furnishing or locating the information; searches reference materials including printed, online, and Internet sources, to provide the necessary information; and instructs customers in basic computer skills, such as searching the library’s computerized databases, so they can continue their research on their own.
- Locates unusual or unique information in response to specific requests; explains library resources and services outside the scope of assigned area or department; troubleshoots malfunctioning equipment such as computers, copiers, printers, and other peripheral equipment and finds alternate methods, if necessary, to satisfy customer’s needs; translates or interprets library literature, conversations, and communications between library staff and customers, enabling verbal and written communication between non-English-speaking customers and the library organization; proofreads translated materials; provides solutions in translated language to customer service issues; assists with translating marketing programming; and assists in producing media materials in-house written for non-English speaking customers.
- Provides collection development and maintenance functions; reviews and evaluates print materials using book reviews, catalogs, and customer recommendations to select and order items to be added to the collection; reviews and evaluates potential electronic resources; evaluates existing books, periodicals, and other materials to determine outdated or unused items for discard; organizes collections of books, periodicals, and other reference materials for convenient access.
- Confers with community members and organizations to plan, develop and implement informational programs in assigned area; oversees partnerships with community organizations; makes collection decisions and determines additional library services to offer; and plans and implements monthly displays focusing on a specific aspect of the department’s/program’s holdings.
- Maintains and collects a variety of data to produce reports used for future reference, comparisons between branches and main library, and for program evaluation; maintains various statistics such as daily reference statistics, disposal/acquisition statistics, circulation statistics, program attendance statistics, meeting and activity statistics, and federal depository statistics.
- Assists in assuring that work areas and/or building and grounds are properly and safely maintained; performs opening and closing routines; fills out work order requests for building and grounds maintenance and repairs; conducts annual survey of physical assets; checks doors at closing, ensuring that library is ready for next day; supervises tidying of library by customer service assistants; assures working status of computers, copiers, printers, fax and other peripheral equipment; and ensures building alarm system is properly set at close.
- Supervises children/youth programs including supervision of librarians, assistants, and support staff; trains staff and volunteers; implements associated policies and procedures; serves as reference and Reader’s Advisor; coordinates and/or participates in special events
- Provides support to the assigned Library – coordinator or manager on matters as directed; participates on a variety of committees as assigned; prepares and presents reports and other necessary correspondence; attends and participates in professional group meetings; maintains awareness of new trends and developments in the fields related to area of assignment; ensures processes, policies and practices are interpreted and applied consistently and effectively; ensures accountability and compliance with all current and applicable state and federal laws, Library policies and procedures, rules and regulations.
Education and Experience:
Master’s Degree in Library and Information Science from an ALA accredited institution and four years of professional library experience in area of assignment, including one year of supervisory/lead responsibility over staff and/or programs; OR an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Required Licenses or Certifications:
· Must possess a valid State of Michigan Driver’s License.
Certifications Preferred:
· Level 1 Librarian Certification by the State of Michigan.
Required Knowledge of:
- Advanced principles and practices of library science.
- Principles and techniques of library materials selection and cataloging.
- Dewey Decimal system, the alphabetical systems of shelving, and computer searching techniques.
- Books, publishing, the book trade, and book review media.
- Reference tools and services.
- Automated library information retrieval system.
- Reference and circulation processes and procedures.
- Understanding of different classification schemes for library materials.
- Significant authors, associations and publishers of books and reference sources in the assigned field.
- Project/program planning and management principles and practices.
- Public and community relations principles and practices.
