Selection Services Librarian

City of Seattle•Seattle, WA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

As part of The Seattle Public Library, our mission is to bring people, information and ideas together to enrich lives and build community. We view Seattle as a city where imagination and opportunity continue to thrive. Since 1891, we have grown from a single reading room in Pioneer Square to a world-class library system with 27 locations. The Library works every day to foster and support a healthy city and a healthy democracy. We do this work guided by the principles of intellectual freedom, literacy and the love of learning, racial equity, privacy and confidentiality, respect for the community, strong partnerships and innovation. We are an active and committed partner in the City of Seattle's Race and Social Justice Initiative. Library employees are highly regarded by the public for their knowledge, quality of service and caring. As a workplace, we value respectful and transparent communication, partnership and engagement. We are enriched individually and organizationally because of our diversity and growth mindset. We take time to recognize and celebrate the achievements of others. If you share these values and meet the qualifications, the Library encourages you to apply for the Selection Librarian position. Technical and Collection Services (TCS) is a quality-controlled production environment located at the Central Library. TCS is responsible for the selection, acquisition, cataloging, and processing of Library resources (physical and digital) for circulation. In 2025, the Seattle Public Library added 200,000 new books, DVDs, CDs, audiobooks, and other physical and digital resources to a collection of approximately 1.8M items. The Library’s 2026 materials budget is approximately $10M including Operating, Levy, and Foundation funds. This position reports to the Technical and Collection Services Manager and works as part of the Selection team in TCS, which includes four other selection librarians. The Selection Librarian is responsible for the selection and coordination of library materials (including print, media, and digital materials) for adults, teens, and children. The successful candidate will start out selecting for our adult and teen comics and graphic novel collections, and will have assigned responsibilities in other areas based on knowledge and experience.

Requirements

Master of Library and Information Science from an ALA accredited library school required.
Minimum of 2 years of professional experience providing public service and managing collections in a public library environment.
Collection management skills: Knowledge of methods of managing and developing collections, including needs assessment, analytical methods, collection budgeting and expenditure control, and purchasing methods.
Experience using OCLC and vendor sites to manage library collections.
Communication skills: Excellent communication skills including the ability to develop training and information materials and make formal and informal presentations to staff. The ability to persuade, motivate, and develop collaborative working relationships is essential.
Judgment and initiative: Ability to work independently and effectively with minimal supervision, understand and interpret a variety of complex oral and written instructions, exercise initiative and creativity in resolving problems, recognize and set priorities, and coordinate multiple on-going projects.
Office technology skills: Experience using integrated library systems (ILS), Microsoft Office365 products, Teams, and SharePoint online.
Project management skills: Demonstrated skill at coordinating projects across departments and divisions. Experience building consensus with stakeholders in all levels of the organization, and ability to craft and communicate messages for system-wide changes and projects.
Intellectual Freedom: A thorough understanding of the principles of intellectual freedom as they apply to the selection of library materials, and a commitment to these principles and the Library's mission and goals are required.

Nice To Haves

Reading and writing fluency in Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Amharic, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, or Somali?
2 years of professional experience developing and maintaining a public library collection

Responsibilities

Select and/or coordinate the selection of new resources for all Library locations, including digital resources
Work with Library staff systemwide to determine needs, answer questions, and respond to concerns.
Depending on selection responsibilities, attend regularly scheduled meetings of Adult, Teen, or Children's Services librarians
Prepare special selection lists as assigned
Work with authors, vendors, and publishers
Process patron-generated title suggestions
Monitor budget allocations in assigned areas
Assist with collection maintenance for materials throughout the Library system as needed
Answer patron questions about the collection in LibAnswers, and assist the Technical and Collection Services Manager with responding to patron comments, concerns, and inquiries about Library materials
Assist with maintaining the Collections staff intranet site resources for staff outside of TCS