Employment Opportunities

At the Highwood Public Library, our staff paves the way for engaging programming, innovative services, and transformative collections. We are a small but mighty library serving a diverse and dynamic community!

We welcome candidates who are committed to excellent customer service, creative collaboration, and dynamic problem-solving.

About our Library

Title: Children’s and Teen Services Manager

Job Summary: Join the 2021 IMLS-award winning Highwood Library & Community Center, a small but mighty library serving a diverse community. The Highwood Library & Community Center is an innovative anchor that enriches, empowers, educates, and embraces the community it serves. Our vision is to uplift, inform and grow the community through the library’s collections, programming and engagement strategies.

This exciting position will lead and oversee library service and programming for children and teens. An ability to engage and collaborate with children, teens, and young adults of diverse backgrounds and abilities is central to this role. This is a highly-collaborative position that requires a strong working relationship with local school districts and child-serving organizations. Strengths in management, scheduling, project management, program development and implementation, tracking of outcomes, and reporting are key to success in this role.

About the Highwood Library & Community Center: Founded in 1976, the Highwood Public Library is an innovative and collaborative anchor of the community, providing educational support, information needs, engaging services, and inspirational collections. The Library provides free multicultural and bilingual programs, services, and resources for Highwood and Illinois residents of all ages and ethnicities, including story times, book discussions, summer reading programs for all ages, as well as literacy-focused bilingual programming.

Position Status: In-person, full-time, exempt
Schedule: Flexible, including some evenings and Saturdays
Benefits: Health benefits and vacation package, IMRF retirement plan

Duties, Responsibilities and Qualities include:

Able to Connect with and Serve Youth and Community Members
• Provides prompt, courteous, and direct assistance to all patrons regarding use of library materials, equipment, services and programs.
• Anticipates and responds to the needs and interests of youth by developing, along with existing staff, activities and programming that engages children and teens.
• Personally, engages children and teen patrons in library programming.
• Models, mentors and inspires confidence and respect of youth and patrons.
• Oversees the curation of the library’s children’s and young adult collections based on the needs and interests of the children and teens in the community. Oversees the processing and cataloging of Young Adult and Children’s books.
• Co-leads the development and implementation of the Teen Advisory Board.
• Actively participates in leading children and teen programs and services.

Experienced Leader
• Leads the development, implementation and evaluation of children’s and teen’s services programming.
• Hires, trains, schedules, and supervises children’s and teen services staff members, providing direction, guidance, coaching and evaluation.
• Coordinates and monitors workflow to determine short- and long-range staffing needs; oversees department schedules to address patron needs.
• Effectively enforces proper code of conduct.
• Leads department meetings on a regular basis.
• Implements procedures to ensure team follows policies set by the Library Board of Trustees.
• Assists team members in effectively reaching their professional goals and carrying out the strategic plan.
• Ensures team members are well trained and have opportunities to develop professionally.
• Coordinates training and background checks for and daily activities of volunteers assigned to youth and children’s services.

Strategic Thinker
● Drives long- and short-range planning and goal setting processes for the department.
● Plans, implements, and evaluates library programs and services which fulfill the diverse educational, recreational, and personal needs of local children and teens.
● Ensures that the department uses a connected learning approach in conducting programs and events with children and youth so they educate, inform, and inspire.
● Supports library & community center planning and goal setting.
● Tracks all program data, outcomes and success stories to prepare departmental records, statistics and reports.
● Purchases library supplies, codes financial expenditures, and maintains financial compliance.

Collaborative Partner
● Actively participates in staff meetings, and promotes inter-departmental collaboration.
● Works closely with Marketing department to promote programming.
● Adopts a community engagement mindset to develop and maintain effective relationships with schools, community groups, agencies, and non-profits that target youth in order to plan and deliver programs and services that meet local youth needs and interests.

Performs other duties as assigned.

EDUCATION/QUALIFICATIONS:
● MLIS, Masters or Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Social Work, Education, Child Development, or equivalent knowledge from a related field.
● Minimum of two years of library or non-profit experience with two years of progressive supervisory work.
● Extensive experience working with children and teens with knowledge of positive behavior support and interventions. Passionate about working with children and teens.
● Ability to draw on concepts of developmental stages, including physical, affective and interpersonal, cognitive, language and social milestones as they relate to children and teens.
● Knowledge of relevant, developmentally appropriate literacy materials and services for children and teens.
● Knowledge of a trauma-informed approach to youth services and restorative practices for youth.
● Empathic and compassionate approach to serving and collaborating with children and teens.
• Ability to work well with adults, teens and children and collaborate with staff members.
• Proactive, self-directed and takes initiative in engaging teens and youth.
• A professional, friendly, helpful, positive attitude.
• Dependability, punctuality, honesty, and trustworthiness.
• Knowledge of Spanish a plus.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS
Constant standing and walking. Lifting up to 30 pounds, bending, reaching, stooping, climbing, pushing and pulling in excess of 75 lbs., reaching, handling, and fine manipulation skills. Ability to communicate by telephone. Ability to handle and shelve books. Ability to use a keyboard. Vision: near and far. Speaking and hearing. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
WORK ENVIRONMENT
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The library work environment is usually busy and demanding. Children’s and teens programs are often noisy and crowded.

This position reports to the Executive Director.

To apply, please send a brief cover letter and resume to director@highwoodlibrary.org.

For a PDF of this job description:

https://highwoodlibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/Childrens-and-Teens-Services-Manager-05-02-24.pdf

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POSITION TITLE: Circulation Assistant
Join the 2021 IMLS-award winning Highwood Library & Community Center, a small but mighty library serving a diverse community. The Highwood Library & Community Center is an innovative anchor that enriches, empowers, educates, and embraces the community it serves. Our vision is to uplift, inform and grow the community through the library’s collections, programming and engagement strategies. The Highwood Library & Community Center is seeking a part-time candidate for an open position as a Circulation Assistant. This exciting opportunity will work at the circulation/reference desk, helping patrons navigate the collection and available technology, shelving materials, and making our patrons feel welcome at the library. This position will offer a high level of customer service to patrons in circulation and assistance with library resources.
Part time, non-exempt
Hours: 18 hours/week during afternoons and evenings. Pay: $17 – $18/hr.
Benefits include up to 40 hours of paid time off per year.

Responsibilities include:
• Provides prompt, courteous, and direct assistance to all patrons with basic information regarding use of library materials, equipment, and services.
• Perform various circulation functions including reference, readers’ advisory, technology, referral services to patrons, check-ins, check-outs, renewals, holds, accessing on-line resources, etc. Assists patrons with library computers, copier and scanner.
• Primarily works at the Adult Services’ service desk, may work at service desks in Youth and Teen areas when needed.
• Contributes to the general order and care of facilities and Library materials.
• Registers, renews and updates patron accounts.
• Processing of materials.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Personal qualities, qualifications, and experience include:

• Library work experience strongly preferred.
• Bilingual in English/Spanish strongly preferred.
• High School Diploma/GED required, Associate’s Degree or higher preferred.
• Flexibility in dealing with patrons and staff.
• Familiarity with public libraries.
• Availability on weekday afternoons and evenings (a must).
• Ability to work closely with other staff in a positive team environment.
• Ability to welcome all library users with a friendly and courteous approach.
• Dependability, punctuality, honesty, and trustworthiness.
• A willingness to help out in special situations and cooperate as a team member to achieve efficient library operations.
• Ability to work well with adults, teens and children and collaborate with staff members.
• Typical office skills such as conducting Internet searches, working with computer systems, answering phones.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS
Constant standing and walking. Lifting up to 30 pounds, bending, reaching, stooping, climbing, pushing and pulling in excess of 75 lbs., reaching, handling, and fine manipulation skills. Ability to communicate by telephone. Ability to handle and shelve books. Ability to use a keyboard. Vision: near and far. Speaking and hearing. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

WORK ENVIRONMENT
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The library work environment is usually busy and demanding. Children’s programs are often noisy and crowded.

This position reports to the Adult Services Manager.

To apply, please send resume and cover letter to Alex Brotsos at abrotsos@highwoodlibrary.org

For a PDF of this job description:

https://highwoodlibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/Circulation-assistant-May-2024.pdf