Employment Opportunities

The Ayer Library is seeking a creative, adaptable, and proactive leader for its Adult Services department. We are a small customer-service focused library serving a town of 8,000 people and, following the appointment of a new Library Director in 2018, we are in the process of evaluating how to best serve  our community today and in the years to come. If the idea of joining a small group of dedicated staff and volunteers to provide excellent public library service while working to answer a lot of questions about the Library’s future appeals to you, please consider applying for this position!

Position Description
The Head of Adult Services (HAS) is responsible for public programming, collection development, customer service, and data collection and evaluation for the Library’s Adult Department. The HAS serves on the Library’s leadership team with the Library Director, Assistant Director, and Head of Youth Services.

Supervision
The Head of Adult Services reports to the Library Director, or the Assistant Director in the Director’s absence.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Plan, organize, publicize, and host educational and entertainment programs for adults, and work with others to provide family-friendly programs. Evaluate program popularity and effectiveness.

• Oversee and provide circulation, reference, and reader’s advisory services to adult patrons; respond to inquiries in person, by telephone, email, and social media; provide direction, information and instruction in the use of library resources and technology. Assist with other customer service tasks as needed.

• Oversee all aspects of the contemporary adult collection; evaluate, recommend, and/or purchase materials in all formats. Maintain the collection through circulation analysis, inventory, weeding, and other current techniques. Assist with cataloging and other technical service tasks as needed.

• Provide supervision, coaching, and inspiration to the staff and volunteers of the Library, and monitors progress toward established goals.

Knowledge, Ability, and Skills

This position requires:

• Excellent communication skills; the ability to use good judgment, perseverance, and creativity to solve problems; patience, good humor, and the desire to contribute to a thriving public service oriented team.

• The ability to work happily and effectively in an environment with frequent interruptions.

• Comfort with troubleshooting problems with PCs, WIFI, copiers, printers, and other aspects of library technology.

• Working knowledge of the principles, practices, and techniques of library cataloging, classification, collection development, and the provision of library services to adults.

Physical Requirements
Minimal physical effort is required to perform most duties; some duties require moderate effort such as lifting and carrying up to 35 lbs. The employee is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, speak, hear, use hands to operate equipment, climb, stoop, reach with hands and arms and lift, move, and push equipment. Vision requirements include the ability to read routine documents and use a computer.