Library Assistant

Ever wanted to work in an institution that is home to one of the world's great collections of cultural treasures and research materials?

Spanning thousands of years of human thought and discovery, Cambridge University Libraries and Archives house unique treasures and research materials made up of nearly ten million books, maps, manuscripts, photographs and priceless objects.

The role

The Library Assistant is an essential part of a small team at the Divinity Faculty Library, delivering a friendly, accessible and inclusive service to library users to support the teaching, learning and research activities of students and academics. This role will also support the Library Manager in his role as Research Liaison Librarian, providing support to the School of Arts and Humanities and Divinity Library in work toward the Research Exercise Framework (REF29).

As Library Assistant you will

• Staff the issue desk, processing item loans, returns and reservations using the library management system (Alma) and sorting and reshelving returned books.
• Deal with enquiries in person and by email, referring enquiries to colleagues as necessary.
• Check new reading lists against existing library collection, and identify material not currently held in collection.
• Support the Library Manager's Research Liaison role, by regularly generating reports from Symplectic Elements, collating relevant data, and distributing it to School of Arts and Humanities (SAH) libraries.
• Assist with recording and monitoring proposed REF outputs and associated activities for Theology and Religious Studies.

What we are looking for

• Experience of working in a customer-facing role.
• Experience of working as part of a team.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with ability to adapt communication style depending on audience.
• Experience of using spreadsheets or similar tools to record and manage information accurately.

What we offer

• Flexible opportunities such as part-time hours.
• Generous annual leave allowance of 36 days. Pro-rata for those not working across 5 days.
• Exceptional parental leave (including maternity, paternity / co-parent, adoption and shared parental leave).
• Discounts on major retailers.
• Professional development opportunities such as apprenticeships and access to a variety of training courses.

We welcome applications from individuals who wish to be considered for part-time working or other flexible working arrangements.

We particularly welcome applications from candidates from a BME background for this vacancy as they are currently under-represented at this level in our department.

For informal enquiries please contact Tom Sykes, Divinity Library Manager at tas54@cam.ac.uk.

Application closing date: 12 April 2026. Interview date: w/c 27 April 2026.

Please quote reference VE49210 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Key information

Department/location: University Library

Salary: £25,249-£27,319 pro rata

Reference: VE49210

Category: Assistant staff

Date published: 30 March 2026

Closing date: 12 April 2026