Library Assistant

Job description last updated:4/30/2025

Position Summary:  The ideal candidate will support the District’s mission and vision and will have the primary responsibility to assist the Library Media Specialist with all aspects of running the school library. They will assist students and teachers, organize library materials and information, and perform both customer service and clerical duties under the supervision of the Librarian Media Specialist.

District Summary

The William Penn School District is located in southeastern Delaware County and serves approximately 5,000 students who reside in Aldan, Colwyn, Darby, East Lansdowne, Lansdowne, and Yeadon Boroughs. We share a collective vision to educate, nurture and empower all students to become career and/or college ready.

Key Responsibilities & Essential Duties: 

• Assists Library Media Specialist in the daily library operations as directed
• Loan library materials to students and collect returned materials
• Sort and reshelve returned books and other materials
• Catalog and maintain library materials
• Answer routine reference questions and teach students how to use library resources
• Support teachers to develop/find curriculum materials
• Maintain computer databases and perform routine clerical tasks (answering phones, organizing files)
• Help plan and facilitate special programs, such as story times and outreach programs
• Other duties as assigned by teacher or administrator

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Knowledge/awareness of own cultural identity and how this influences behavior, and desire to learn about the cultural identity of others. 
• Ability to establish and nurture an environment that promotes cultural competence and equitable treatment of staff, students, and patrons of the District. 
• Ability to understand and hold self and others accountable for promoting and attaining the goals as outlined in Focus Forward & Beyond. 
• Ability to recognize that each person is a unique individual even as we celebrate their group cultural heritage. 
• Ability to courageously lead conversations focused on equity, closing opportunity gaps, and equal access to technology-infused lessons of rigor. 
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with District staff and administrators, students, parents or guardians, outside agencies, and the public, in a multi-ethnic, multicultural, multilingual environment. 
• Ability to receive and implement feedback to improve practice and systems.

Required Qualifications:

• High School Diploma or GED
• Evidence of obtaining Highly Qualified status: Apply here for HQ Exam with PaTTAN
• Ability to effectively present one-on-one and in small group situations to staff, parents, students, and administrators.
• Ability to apply good judgment in carrying out written or oral instructions
• Regularly required to sit, walk, or stand; use hands to handle or feel objects, tools, or controls. Frequently required to reach with hands and arms; occasionally squat, stoop, and kneel. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• 60 college credits or Associate’s Degree
• 2+ years of experience in K-6 education environments

Pre-employment Paperwork Requirements:

• Pennsylvania Criminal Background Check, FBI Fingerprinting Background Check, Pennsylvania Child Abuse Clearance
• Sexual Misconduct/Abuse Disclosure Release (Act 168) forms 
• School Personnel Health Record and TB test

Working Conditions & Physical Requirements:

• Work scheduled hours on a consistent basis
• Indoor office environment is subject to frequent interruptions
• Pushing, moving and lifting objects with a strength factor of light work
• Dexterity of hands and fingers to operate a variety of standard office equipment
• Clarity of vision at varying distances
• Verbal, auditory and written capabilities to effectively communicate in an articulate manner
• Sitting and standing for extended periods of time
• Frequent sitting, standing and walking
• Reaching overhead, above the shoulders and horizontally to retrieve and store files and supplies
• Lifting objects with a strength factor of light work
• Occasional bending, reaching and stretching
• Occasional kneeling, crouching and squatting
• Occasional pulling, pushing

Level of Compensation: $15/HR

Disclaimer:

The preceding list is not exhaustive and may be supplemented as necessary. The statements contained herein reflect general details as necessary to describe the principal functions of this job, the scope of responsibility, and the level of knowledge and skills typically required, but should not be considered an all-inclusive listing of work requirements, skills or duties so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside their normal responsibilities from time to time as needed.

All employment open positions are made available on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability, or veteran status.

Job descriptions are written as a representative list of the ADA essential duties performed by the entire classification. They cannot include and are not intended to include, every possible activity and task performed by every specific employee.