Children's Librarian

The Wauwatosa Public Library is seeking a full-time Children's Librarian to join their team. The position's primary responsibilities include assisting children and their caregivers in locating and evaluating information, curating an up-to-date and balanced collection, developing engaging programming, and promoting the library’s services throughout the community. This 40 hour/week position generally has working hours of Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm, with one regular evening a week until 8:00 pm and one weekend a month. The primary work location will be the Wauwatosa Public Library, however, you will also spend time at offsite outreach locations and some of your work may be done remotely.

The ideal candidate is passionate about providing excellent library services to children (birth-12) and their caregivers with an emphasis on programming, outreach, and readers’ advisory.  The Children’s Library in Wauwatosa includes a reference desk, staffed during open hours by our team of four Children’s Librarians. The ideal candidate strives to support and build successful relationships with enthusiastic patrons and colleagues at all levels. As an ambassador of the library, the candidate must have the ability to provide superior customer service and make all patrons feel welcome and valued. We believe a strong, equitable library is vital to creating an engaged, compassionate, creative community; the ideal candidate will embody those values.

• Assists people with finding library materials and answering general reference and IT-related questions in-person, on the phone, and via email.
• Purchases, weeds, organizes, and maintains assigned portion of the collection.
• Creates promotional materials and content for library programs and services. as assigned.
• Plans, and facilitates programming for children birth to age 12 as well as their caregivers.
• Compiles statistics as assigned.
• Provides supervision to volunteers for special projects, computer, and paging slips.
• May serve as part of a City, library system, or other committee as assigned.
• Ability to understand library policies and procedures and apply them to library operations.

• Acts as Librarian-in-Charge as needed.

Education and Experience Requirements:

• Master’s Degree in Library Science from an American Library Association accredited graduate program.
• Two to three years of experience working as a Librarian in a public library.
• Experience in maintaining a budget.

In order to perform the functions and responsibilities of the position (listed above) the following knowledge, skills, and abilities are essential.

• Excellent customer service and problem-solving skills.
• Strong information searching, multi-tasking, technical, editing, and writing skills.
• Knowledge of children’s literature.
• Storytelling experience and ability to perform in front of groups of children and capture their attention.
• Experience developing programming for elementary-aged children that is engaging, interactive, and inclusive.
• Ability to build relationships and partnerships with members of the public, community organizations, and businesses.
• A thorough knowledge of computer applications for library services and proficiency in computer operation.
• Artistic skills used in creating posters, displays, etc. is desirable.
• Ability to gather statistics, analyze information, and present reports, both orally and in writing.

In evaluating candidates for this position, The City of Wauwatosa may consider a combination of education, training, and experience which provides the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of this position.  

Physical Requirements

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit, twist and reach. The employee is frequently required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel. The employee is also regularly required to talk and hear, in person, in meetings and by telephone. They will need to interact with city management, employees, other governmental officials, contractors, vendors, employees and the public; read and interpret data, information and documents; analyze and solve problems. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk and reach with hands and arms. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. The employee must be able to safely lift and carry up to 10 pounds regularly, and lift/push/move up to 50 pounds frequently. 

Work Environment

The noise in the work environment is usually quiet. An employee in this class generally works in a standard library environment with exposure to individuals who may be agitated or angry.