Job Description

Assistant Librarian (Maternity cover)

Department: Library and Archives

Employment Type: Fixed Term - Full Time

Location: Brasenose College

Compensation: £32,278 - £37,508 / year

This role will close at noon on 24th April 2026, and interviews will be held on Tuesday 5th May 2026.

One of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, Brasenose College has over 650 students and a reputation for excellence academically in teaching, research, and as a conference venue. The Library and Archives team report to the Fellow Librarian and Archivist, who convenes the termly Library Committee meeting chaired by the College Principal. Library staff work closely with academic and support staff across college including IT, Finance Bursary, College (academic) Office, Principal's Secretaries, Domestic Bursary (inc. conferences, housekeeping, and workshop) and Development Office.

Due to a period of Maternity leave, the Library team is looking for an Assistant Librarian to provide Maternity cover from 15th June 2026 - 30th June 2027 Reporting to the College Librarian and contributing to the day to day running of the 24/7 library, the main duties and responsibilities of the Assistant Librarian are as below.

Key Responsibilities

• Shelving and tidying first thing in the morning to ensure that the library is orderly, safe and welcoming for students.
• Being the primary overseer of the library mailbox, answering enquiries, and forwarding as necessary.
• Reporting any faults, repairs or other maintenance required.
• Checking the stores, recording temperature and humidity, and reporting these to the College librarian.
• Checking pest traps in library and archives stores, swapping them and returning to NCS according to the schedule. Sweeping, vacuuming and dusting as required to ensure as pest-free an environment as possible.
• Assisting with the organisation and preparation of termly exhibitions curated by the library and archives team and keeping up to date records of these on the library drive.
• Working with the rare books cataloguer on teaching sessions and other exhibitions.
• Cataloguing and processing books as necessary, ensuring that the required standards are maintained.
• Maintaining the withdrawals list.
• Adding books to the accessions list as required.
• Supervising researchers.
• Attending and taking minutes at the termly Library reps meetings chaired by the College Librarian.
• Attending the termly Library Committee.
• Preparing for and assisting with induction in Michaelmas term.
• Deputising for the College Librarian as necessary.
• Leading the library’s presence on social media (Facebook and Twitter), posting weekly and sharing relevant content for Brasenose students.

*Note: the library and its various stores are spread across several floors and buildings, some of which are some distance apart and involve climbing many stairs. The library is not equipped with lifts or book hoists. Staff must therefore be willing and able to carry heavy books between buildings and up and down stairs on a regular basis.

General Duties and Requirements

• Working with other members of the Library and Archives team to provide excellent support for students and staff as well as raising awareness of the Library and Archives.
• Undertaking any other duties, consistent with the purpose of the job, as may from time to time be assigned by the Librarian.

Person Specification

Essential

• Library qualification or equivalent experience.
• ALMA trained with cataloguing permissions and good working knowledge of the fulfilment and cataloguing modules.
• Will like people, and have an enthusiastic ‘can do’ attitude to helping colleagues, students and staff.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to develop relationships with other departments and teams across college, interacting effectively with staff at all levels in a calm professional and helpful manner.
• Pro-active approach to activities and needs of library users and colleagues.
• Keen interest in, and experience of working with rare books and special collections.
• Sound working knowledge Word and Excel.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• The ability to learn new skills and systems quickly.
• Good attention to detail.
• The ability to prioritise work effectively while working under pressure.

Desirable

• Knowledge and experience of working with archives.
• Working knowledge of Latin and/or of a modern language.
• Experience of working within college libraries or Bodleian libraries.
• A working knowledge of the University of Oxford and the Collegiate environment.
• Some experience of using SharePoint.

Terms and Conditions

This role will close on 24th April 2026, and interviews will be held on Tuesday 5th May 2026.

Appointment: 1 year fixed term contract from 15th June 2026 to 30th June 2027

Salary: Brasenose College Grade 5salary range (£32,278 - £37,508 per annum), dependent on qualifications and experience.

Hours of Work: 35hours per week. This is an onsite working role.

Probation: The post is subject to a 6 month probationary period.

Benefits:

• Pension - Eligibility to Brasenose College's pension schemes. Dependent on role, this may be NEST, OSPS (Oxford Staff Pension Scheme) or USS (University Superannuation Scheme). The successful candidate will be entered into this scheme automatically on joining, but on-going membership of the scheme is optional.
• Salary Exchange Scheme - Staff who are eligible for OSPS or USS, and who join our pension scheme will be enrolled into the Salary Exchange Pension Contributions Scheme on or around three months after joining Brasenose. This scheme is financially advantageous both to the employee, and the College as the employer.
• Annual leave - The paid holiday entitlement for an equivalent full-time contract for a year is six working weeks (30 days) of annual leave (5 days to be taken over Christmas break when College is closed) plus 8 Statutory Bank Holidays. Annual leave shall be taken at mutually convenient times agreed in advance with the Department Manager. The holiday year begins on 1 January and ends 31 December. For part years of service, the entitlement will be calculated as 1/12th of the annual entitlement for each completed month.
• Meals - Employees are entitled to take lunch free of charge in Hall when the kitchen is open.
• Welfare Support - Employee Assistance Programme; a free confidential telephone helpline and online medical guidance.
• Free annual flu jab.
• Travel Pass Loan - a discounted travel scheme is available with monthly deductions from salary.
• Cycle to Work Scheme/Bike Loan - monthly deductions from salary.
• Sports Facilities - access to the University Sports club.
• University Card - for discounts in shops, cafes and restaurants and University leisure facilities.