Your career at University of Leeds Libraries
Join us to deliver
Knowledge for All
University of Leeds Libraries are looking for people with talent and potential from all backgrounds to join us as we deliver our exciting and ambitious vision for the future: Knowledge for all.
We offer a wide range of roles within different specialisms, with colleagues from a range professions and with a variety of expertise. These include digital archivists, metadata specialists, customer services, collection care and conservation, public galleries, academic and digital skills teaching, open research and data advisors.
Find out what job opportunities are available, what it's like to work in one of the UK's major research libraries and what we can offer you.
Your place of work
Leading libraries
University of Leeds Libraries are one of the major academic research libraries of the UK, with globally significant collections and a strong service ethos. We believe knowledge grows when shared and that it’s our responsibility to preserve this knowledge for future generations.
We support our students to develop their academic and digital literacies, to become global citizens and reach their full potential. We are an active partner in research and education initiatives across the University; we engage in policy discussions and provide support to implement open research and education. Our curators, archivists, learning developers and other colleagues help to shape new forms of research and scholarship drawn from their rich expertise and our extensive collections.
Through our collections, galleries, exhibitions and public art, our cultural offer captures the imagination of our communities and brings them closer to the University’s civic mission.
Our ambition is to become one of the greatest libraries in the world.
Culture and values
We are a values-driven organisation, with a strong customer service ethos within a supportive and collaborative environment. We care deeply about our staff, researchers, students and wider cultural communities. They are at the heart of our services. We aim to live the University values of collaboration, compassion, inclusivity and integrity in all aspects of our working culture.
Our work encompasses creating, disseminating, applying and preserving knowledge, and our mission focuses on digital transformation, open education and open research, sustainable environments and enriched experiences.
We are cultivating a libraries culture that embraces risk, where experimentation and learning are celebrated. We employ design thinking approaches and focus on supporting innovation.
What are we like
For a large organisation, we are noted for our friendly and supportive culture. We believe in developing and nurturing potential and offer many opportunities for professional and personal development.
There are chances to develop professional interests, with different ways to participate in cross-team projects to achieve our vision and support the University's strategic aims.
We are ambitious, hard-working and collaborative in nature, united by a passion to understand and fulfil the needs of our users and deliver high quality experiences.
Our locations
You will be based in one of our four libraries whilst you are working on campus. Although we are split across four buildings on campus, we are one library service and you could find yourself working with colleagues in different buildings as the need arises.
We support hybrid working where the responsibilities of the role allow it.
Look around
Take a 360 degrees tour of some of the public parts of our libraries.
The University
The University of Leeds is one of the UK’s largest higher education institutions, with more than 38,000 students, over 9,000 members of staff and alumni from 197 countries around the world.
We are a values-driven University determined to shape a better future for humanity and collaborate with others to tackle inequalities, achieve societal impact and drive change. Our strategy: Universal Values, Global Change is built on three pillars: culture, community and impact. It sets out our ambitions to create a Fairer Future for All – for our staff, our students and our wider global community.
The Libraries play a key part in achieving the University's strategic aims.
Benefits
We offer a range of generous employee benefits.
Work-life balance
Up to 26 days paid holiday plus up to 16 days that the University is closed by custom (including bank holidays and Christmas – the actual number of days will depend on the amount of hours you work) – that’s over 40 days a year!
Flexible working opportunities – not every job needs to be in the office five days a week.
Financial benefits
Generous pension scheme options plus life assurance, as well as a raft of offers for discounted shopping and leisure.
Family-friendly
Generous maternity, paternity and adoption leave and high quality on-campus childcare facilities.
Personal development
Access to courses run by our Organisational Development & Professional Learning team, as well as training opportunities organised within the libraries and nationally.
Self-development courses including languages, creative writing, wellbeing therapies and much more.
Health and wellbeing
Discounted staff membership options at The Edge, our state-of-the-art campus gym, with a pool, sauna, climbing wall, cycle circuit, and sports halls.
A range of wellbeing services and initiatives, including discounted healthcare.
Travel
We support sustainable travel to minimise our environmental impact and offer discounts on public transport and a Cycle to Work scheme.
Culture on campus
Our beautiful campus offers fantastic green spaces and a range of world-class facilities, which include:
- Theatres and a concert hall
- Our Galleries and public art trail
- Sustainable garden and biodiversity pond
- Onsite shops, bars and cafes.
Take a look around campus with our 360 Virtual Campus Tour.
About our city
Leeds city centre is just a ten-minute walk away from campus. Perfectly placed in the centre of the UK, Leeds is one of the country's largest and fastest-growing cities with a global reputation in business, culture and sport.
Our lively city centre is home to an abundance of museums, theatres, music venues, independent restaurants, bars and shops. Whatever your interests, there's plenty to explore – day or night.
Leeds is also well connected, nationally and internationally, with excellent rail and air transport links – so it’s easy to access our stunning Yorkshire countryside and everything beyond.
Current vacancies
We are recruiting for the following role(s):
Library Customer Services Assistant
There are 3 roles available with different shift patterns:
1. Friday and Saturday, 4:30pm–00:30am, all year round, 14 hours per week.
2. Saturday and Sunday, 10:00am–6:00pm, all year round, 14 hours per week.
3. Monday, Friday and Sunday, 4:30pm–00:30am, all year round, 21 hours per week.
Salary: £23,881 to £24,900 per annum pro-rata
Post type: Part time
Closing date: Thursday 20 March 2025
Do you have great people skills and know how to motivate others to deliver an effective service and go the extra mile?
You'll be part of the Customer Service team, providing high-quality front-line support to the University’s staff and students, and to external customers across our libraries. You'll be allocated to a particular library as your base site but from time to time, you'll be required to work across other campus library sites to provide cover for service points in line with operational needs.
Main duties of the role include ensuring our Libraries are welcoming spaces for visitors as well as answering enquiries and assisting our customers in getting the most out of our spaces and services. You'll undertake administrative tasks using our management system, such as processing memberships, over dues and reservations. You'll also be processing and shelving stock, helping to set up meeting rooms and securing the library buildings.
You'll have experience working in a customer-facing role with the ability to engage positively and proactively with customers. You'll also have excellent communication skills to effectively deal with enquiries from a range of customers across a variety of mediums. Being able to use IT systems with a willingness to engage with new and bespoke systems is another attribute that we are looking for in this role.
Recruitment ethos
We are committed to providing a culture of inclusion, openness, respect and equality of opportunity that attracts, supports, and retains the best students and staff from all backgrounds and from across the world.
Whatever role we recruit for we are always striving to increase the diversity of our community, which each individual helps enrich and cultivate. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, Black, Asian, people who belong to a minority ethnic community; people who identify as LGBTQ+; and people with disabilities. Candidates will always be selected based on merit and ability.
Useful links
Libraries website
Learn about our services and facilities and see About the Libraries for our Forward Plan.
Knowledge for all
Our ambitious strategy Knowledge for all: University of Leeds Libraries Vision for 2030.
University Jobs
Search the current vacancies and learn how to apply for positions at the University.
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