Library Technician (Deck Attendant)

Summary

The Library of Congress shares its vast collections of books, manuscripts, photographs, maps, audiovisual materials, and priceless artifacts to cultivate curiosity and spark imagination. We engage, inspire, and inform Congress and the American people with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity. We seek highly talented professionals to join a vibrant and collaborative community. Your work here will have lasting impact on the Library and its users well into the future.

Duties

• This position is located in the Serial and Government Publications Division, General and International Collections Directorate, Researcher and Collections Services. The incumbent serves as a deck attendant in the Serial and Government Publications Division. Incumbent is responsible for the maintenance, services and shelving of collections housed in the Division during hours of public service. This includes retrieving materials for researchers, shelving and maintaining the serial collections of the division, and utilizing the LC ILS and other online systems. Critical to this position is the ability to work with a high degree of accuracy, to produce a large quantity of work, often under sever time constraints, and to interact effectively with researchers and other users of the Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room. As the Library Technician (Deck Attendant), you will: Follow a body of standardized library rules, procedures, and operations, assist in maintaining the collections. Maintain simple records and verify information by comparison. Collate serial material according to classification scheme appropriate for the collection. File materials and forms in alphabetical or numerical order. Arrange, sorts, and re-shelves materials returned to the stacks according to shelflist order. Reads shelve and assure that they are properly arranged. Continually shelfread in assigned area to ensure that each item is in proper shelflist order. Learn to use reference tools to identify materials. Handle brittle, damaged, or deteriorated material. Identifies and removes items suspected of containing errors in labeling and/or cataloging and forwards items for further determination of disposition. Withdraw materials in need of rebinding, re-labeling, and repair forwarding them for appropriate correction. Effects minor shifts necessitated by growth of collection. Follow a body of standardized library rules, procedures, and operations, assist in retrieval of materials. Receive, sort, and transmit books, serials, or other materials back to the appropriate location. Receive call slips indicating call number, title, volume, chronology, etc.: of materials requested by readers or staff. Draw upon knowledge of the classification system, an understanding of the peculiarities of more than one system of classification, and the meaning of different shelf markers, to locate material which may have special requirements such as material in a foreign language. Check title, call number, and other indicia information against call slip. Assist patrons participating in standardized library programs and services. Communicate library policy regarding material retrieval to readers. Respond to directional questions posed by readers. Provide messenger services, delivering and picking up material as scheduled. Maintain a high degree of tact and courtesy in dealing with visitors. Perform searches for routine print and non-print materials in bibliographic and copyright files, using bibliographic tools, to organize data into a catalog record as prescribed by the appropriate rules. Identify problems and bring them to the attention of the supervisor. Input and update manual or automated information systems, using other data compiled during processing. Perform other duties as assigned. The duties of the position require the incumbent to lift and carry items weighing up to 50 pounds on a recurring basis. There is constant walking, standing, bending, or carrying of light items. A physical examination is required every three (3) years to perform the work of the position. After an offer of employment has been made and before commencement of duties, the selectee MUST be physically qualified by the Library's Health Services Office. The position description number for this position is 130130. The salary range indicated reflects the locality pay adjustments for the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan area. The incumbent of this position will work a Flexitime work schedule. This is a non-supervisory, bargaining unit position. Relocation expenses will not be authorized for the person(s) selected under this vacancy announcement.

Qualifications

Applicants must have had progressively responsible experience and training sufficient in scope and quality to furnish them with an acceptable level of the following knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the duties of the position without more than normal supervision. Ability to retrieve materials. ** Ability to maintain materials in library collections. ** Ability to provide customer service in a library setting while exercising judgment and discretion. Ability to search and perform data entry using computerized search tools and databases. Ability to communicate effectively other than in writing.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment The duties of the position require the incumbent to lift and carry items weighing up to 50 pounds on a recurring basis. There is constant walking, standing, bending, or carrying light items. A physical examination is required every three (3) years to perform the work of the position. After an offer of employment has been made and before commencement of duties, the selectee MUST be physically qualified by the Library's Health Office. Library of Congress employees are prohibited from using illegal drugs, including marijuana. The Library is part of the Federal Government and abides by federal law, so regardless of individual state or District of Columbia laws, marijuana use is illegal, considered criminal activity, and can affect your employment at the Library. In addition, past or current drug use and activities (e.g., selling or distributing) may deem you ineligible for employment.

How to apply

Please carefully follow all instructions under the How to Apply tab to ensure you are considered for the position. Please note, there is no page restriction to your resume, and you are allowed to upload a resume longer than two pages in the resume section within the application process. When the application system prompts, please proceed to the agency site to complete your application. You are required to apply online for this announcement. We are unable to accept mailed or emailed documents. You must complete the entire application process, including submission of all documents BEFORE this announcement closes. To do so, complete the following steps. Step 1: If you do not already have one, create a resume and upload it to your profile in the "Resume" section. Although you must enter your Social Security Number for USAJOBS, this information will not be provided to the Library of Congress. Step 2: Review the Job Announcement. We recommend you go to the end of the Qualification and Evaluation section of the job announcement to preview the online questions that you will answer in Step 4. You may wish to customize your resume to ensure that it supports your responses to these questions. Step 3: Click on the "APPLY ONLINE" button to the right of this announcement. Follow USAJOBS' instructions to access your account. You will be redirected to the Hiring Management website to complete the application process. If this is your first time in Hiring Management, you will be asked to answer questions related to your eligibility for Federal employment. You will be able to update this information and save it to our account for future announcements. Step 4: Once you have completed the eligibility questions, you will be taken directly to the vacancy application questions. Answer all questions honestly and thoroughly. Step 5: Hiring Management offers one option that will electronically attach your documentation to your online application once you finish answering the questions in the job announcement. You may electronically upload a document directly from your computer to your application. Be certain to review your complete application for confirmation of the document uploaded and click on "Finished" to be returned to USAJOBS. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have multiple documents of the same kind, e.g. 2 undergraduate transcripts from different schools or 2 SF-50s, etc., be sure that they are all in the same file on your computer. If you try uploading them individually, only the last one sent will be visible in our system. If you have any questions about this information, please contact the person on this announcement BEFORE the closing date. Step 6: Click on "Finish" after you have completed your application. Once you have submitted your application, you can check your status online through your Hiring Management or MY USAJOBS account. Your complete online application and any required supplemental documentation (e.g., SF-50, etc.) must be received by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on the closing date of the announcement. It is your responsibility to ensure that all documents are received on time and that the materials are readable. Failure to do so will result in your application being excluded from consideration for this announcement. If you are experiencing any technical difficulty with the online process, you MUST CONTACT THE POINT OF CONTACT FOR THIS ANNOUNCEMENT BEFORE THE CLOSING DATE. For all technical issues please contact [email protected] , no later than 4:00pm EST of the Closing Date. REQUESTS FOR EXTENSIONS WILL NOT BE GRANTED.