Overview
The New York Public Library (NYPL) has been an essential provider of free books, information, ideas, and education for all New Yorkers for more than 100 years. NYPL’s neighborhood libraries in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island—many of which date to Andrew Carnegie’s visionary philanthropy at the turn of the 20th century—are being transformed into true centers of educational innovation and service, and vital community hubs that provide far more than just free books and materials.
The Library is seeking Young Adult Librarians to empower young adults ages 12-18 to become creative thinkers, enthusiastic readers, skillful researchers, and resourceful users of information. Successful candidates will embody each of these four characteristics themselves.
Key Responsibilities
Under the supervision of the Library Manager, the Young Adult Librarian:
- Provides reference services and resource recommendations using print, media and digital resources
- Collaborates with the Youth Educational Services Department to develop, promote and facilitate innovative programs to build literacy and a love of reading to meet the expressed and anticipated needs of the community’s Young Adults, through visual and performing arts programming, STEM programs, summer reading events, and a variety of other programs both in the Library and throughout the community
- Partners with the collection development team to shape and maintain the Young Adult collection ensuring it is diverse, current, relevant and meets the needs of the community
- Works to engage Young Adults with the collection in ways that allow them to follow their interests and discover new ones
- Conducts outreach to and develops partnerships with community-based organizations, schools, and community groups that target Young Adults to promote the library’s services (e.g., MyLibraryNYC, the Library’s partnership with NYC schools), collections, specialized programs and resources to enhance the reading skills of young adults
- Encourages digital literacy and provides age-appropriate technology instruction to young adults
- Develops and maintains content for social media platforms such as Library blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest
- Develops and maintains the layout and appearance of the Young Adult space ensuring a safe and inviting area filled with relevant resources
- Mentors library staff in preparing and presenting Young Adult programs
- Assists with circulation, fines & fees management, reserves and opening/closing procedures
- May take responsibility for the facility, staff and operations in the absence of the Library Manager
- Maintains a working knowledge of trends in Young Adult literature, youth services and the profession through webinars, meetings, internal training, conferences, professional literature and organizational memberships
- Performs related duties as required
Required Education & Experience
- ALA accredited Master’s degree in Library and Information Studies
- Public Librarian’s Professional Certificate issued by the State of New York
- Knowledge of emerging library technologies, service and programming trends for Young Adults in urban public libraries preferred
- Preferred language proficiency: Spanish
Required Skills
- Strong commitment to public service and the ability to work well with a diverse patronage
- Experience creating and conducting a variety of innovative programs for Young Adults
- Knowledge and appreciation of Young Adult literature, audiovisual materials, computer resources, and other materials that constitute a balanced, relevant youth collection
- Experience developing, maintaining and marketing Young Adult collections
- Experience building partnerships with local organizations and schools to better meet the needs of community users
- Demonstrated interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills
- Successfully demonstrated ability to work as part of a team
- Strong organization and planning skills, including the ability to perform multiple projects or tasks simultaneously
- Strong computer and other related technology skills, including MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Google applications, PCs, Macs and e-reader devices
- Demonstrated advance knowledge of computer services including online searching, social media, reference resources and databases
- Proclivity to learn new skills and apply them to the changing work environment
