Library Assistant - San Jose Public Library

Our diverse and inclusive workforce of more than 7,000 employees play a key role in the success of San José, the heart of the Silicon Valley. All City of San José employees work together as one team to make San José a vibrant, innovative, and desirable place to live and work. Visit here to learn more about our One Team Leadership Values and Expectations, including quality and excellent customer service and here to learn more about San José.

The City of San José is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants for all job openings will be considered without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status or any other consideration made unlawful under any federal, state or local laws. The City of San José is committed to offering reasonable accommodations to job applicants with disabilities. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please contact us at 408-535-1285, 711 (TTY) , or via email at CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov .

About the Department

The award-winning San José Public Library (SJPL) consists of more than 600 employees, a 2 3 % bilingual workforce, and has 24 branch libraries across San José, in addition to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, which is the city’s main library jointly operated through a unique partnership with San José State University. SJPL serves a diverse community of roughly one-million residents and currently has nearly 700,000 library members. It annually attracts over 6 million visitors (pre-pandemic) and circulates more than 8 million items per year.

Over the past few years, SJPL has cultivated a 21st century library experience dedicated to public service and committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion at the core. In addition to providing library services to the community, SJPL proudly leads two citywide initiatives - the Education and Digital Literacy Strategy and the SJ Access digital equity initiative, which has become the number one provider of free public access to Wi-Fi connectivity, tech device lending, and multi-lingual digital literacy programs and support. SJPL is led by Jill Bourne, City Librarian, who was nationally recognized in 2017 as Library Journal’s “Librarian of the Year.”

SJPL enriches lives by fostering lifelong learning and ensuring that every member of the community has access to a vast array of ideas and information. The library department is a place where people do great work and make a difference in our community. To see examples of SJPL’s work and learn more about its impact, visit www.sjpl.org. Join us to make a difference!

Position Duties

The salary range for Library Assistant is approximately $84,543 - $102,757 annually. This amount includes an approximate five percent (5%) ongoing non-pensionable pay. Actual salary shall be determined by the final candidates’ qualifications and experience.

Library Assistants are part of a Branch Leadership Team that supervises clerical operations and clerical staff at a branch library or a major unit within the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. Currently there is one vacancy.

The position is responsible for training and supervising clerical staff in the performance of a range of duties; providing direct customer service; organizing, assigning, and reviewing the workflow and processes; creating daily and weekly work schedules; interpreting policies and procedures; resolving customer and computer related issues related to circulation activities; serving as the branch or unit resource for computer technology operations and troubleshooting equipment problems; developing clerical unit procedures and objectives; tracking and monitoring budgets and balancing fund accounts; verifying revenue collected; developing and implementing employee training; tracking and follow up on facility maintenance problems; compiling statistical reports; and serving on system-wide committees. Schedule will include some evenings, Monday and Saturday rotations, and occasional Sunday shifts. Bilingual skills preferred.

This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this or other departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the ap plicants from this recruitment.

Minimum Qualifications

Education: Completion of two (2) years of undergraduate course work from an accredited college or university in library technical courses or related fields.

Experience: T wo (2) years of full-time experience (2080 hours = 1 year of full-time experience) performing increasingly responsible library clerical work at the level of Library Clerk.

Acceptable Substitution: Experience as a Library Clerk ( customer service, library materials handling, basic scheduling, and directing the work of volunteers) can be substituted for the educational requirement on a year-for-year basis up to two (2) years.

Other Qualifications

• Job Expertise - Demonstrates knowledge of and experience with applicable professional/technical principles and practices, Citywide and departmental procedures/policies and federal and state rules and regulations.
  

• Customer Service - Demonstrates the ability to anticipate customers' needs and deliver services effectively and efficiently using professional demeanor.
  

• Computer Skills - Experienced with common business computer applications including but not limited to: MS Outlook, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, MS Access, and MS Excel.
  

• Problem Solving - approaches a situation or problem by defining the problem or issue; determines the significance of problem(s);collects information; uses logic and intuition to arrive at decisions or solutions to problems that achieve the desired outcome.
  

• Supervision - Sets effective long and short-term goals based on a good understanding of management practices; establishes realistic priorities within available resources; provides motivational support; empowers others; assigns decision-making and work functions to others in an appropriate manner to maximize organizational and individual effectiveness.
  

• Teamwork & Interpersonal Skills - Develops effective relationships with co-workers and supervisors by helping others accomplish tasks and using collaboration and conflict resolution skills.
  

• Communication Skills - Effectively conveys information and expresses thoughts and facts clearly, orally and in writing; demonstrates effective use of listening skills; displays openness to other people’s ideas and thoughts.
  

Selection Process

The selection process will consist of an evaluation of the applicant's training and experience based on the application and responses to the Job Specific Questions. Only the candidates whose backgrounds best match the position will be invited to proceed in the selection process. Additional phases of the selection process will consist of one or more interviews, one of which may include a practical/writing exercise.

You must answer all job-specific questions in order to be considered for this vacancy or your application will be deemed incomplete and withheld from further consideration.

The application deadline is Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 11:59 PM. Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application. If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided. IF YOU DONOT RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application.

Additional Information:

Employment Eligibility: Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. Please be informed that the City of San Jose will NOT sponsor, represent or sign any documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1-B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application.

You must answer all job-specific questions to be considered for this vacancy or your application will be deemed incomplete and withheld from further consideration. Applicants are expected to write their own essays/responses. Please be advised that use of AI content in your responses may result in your removal from the hiring process.

Please note that applications are currently not accepted through CalOpps or any other third party job board application system.

This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this, or other divisions or departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applicants from this recruitment.

Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application. If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided. IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application.

The City of San Jose offers a wide range of core health benefits including Medical, Dental, Vision, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Disability, and Savings Plans. Please visit the City's benefits pagefor detailed information on coverage, cost, and dependent coverage.

For information on the City’s Retirement Plan(pension for full-time employees), please visit the Office of Retirement Services website. You will be able to view information based on different Sworn/Federated job classification.

In additional to the benefits above, there is an additional perks siteto explore further benefits of working for the City of San Jose like paid leave, educational reimbursements, and holiday pay are specific to the job classification and union membership.

Closing Date/Time: 8/13/2025 11:59 PM Pacific

• 

• City of San Jose

• 408-535-1285

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