Senior Librarian

Our diverse and inclusive workforce of more than 7,000 employees play a key role in the success of San José, the heart of the Silicon Valley. All City of San José employees work together as one team to make San José a vibrant, innovative, and desirable place to live and work. Visit here to learn more about our One Team Leadership Values and Expectations, including quality and excellent customer service and here to learn more about San José.

The City of San José is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants for all job openings will be considered without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status or any other consideration made unlawful under any federal, state or local laws. The City of San José is committed to offering reasonable accommodations to job applicants with disabilities. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, please contact us at 408-535-1285, 711 (TTY) , or via email at CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov .

About the Department

The award-winning San José Public Library (SJPL) consists of more than 600 employees, a 23% bilingual workforce, and has 24 branch libraries across San José, in addition to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, which is the city’s main library jointly operated through a unique partnership with San José State University. SJPL serves a diverse community of roughly one-million residents and currently has nearly 700,000 library members. It annually attracts over 6 million visitors (pre-pandemic) and circulates more than 8 million items per year.

Over the past few years, SJPL has cultivated a 21st century library experience dedicated to public service and committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion at the core. In addition to providing library services to the community, SJPL proudly leads two citywide initiatives - the Education and Digital Literacy Strategy and the SJ Access digital equity initiative, which has become the number one provider of free public access to Wi-Fi connectivity, tech device lending, and multi-lingual digital literacy programs and support. SJPL is led by Jill Bourne, City Librarian, who was nationally recognized in 2017 as Library Journal’s “Librarian of the Year.”

Position Duties

Salary range for the Senior Librarian role is $123,658.08 - $150,652.32 annually. This rate consists of a base amount and an approximate five percent (5%) ongoing non-pensionable pay. The actual salary shall be determined by the final candidate’s qualifications and experience.

The San José Public Library is currently seeking to fill three (3) Senior Librarian positions. Senior Librarians manage branch libraries or a major systemwide unit. Two (2) of these positions will be Branch Managers and one will manage the Library’s Digital Equity and Empowerment unit.

Ideal candidates will be strong and innovative leaders with awareness of the Mission, Vision, & Values statements of the City of San José and the San José Public Library. They are responsible for ensuring that system policies, programs and service initiatives are implemented and for ensuring efficient and appropriate delivery of service and programs. In addition, there are system support duties that enhance the development and improvement of library services to the community, which involve participation on or facilitation of teams and task forces. Senior Librarians are expected to have knowledge of current library technology and trends; they will have experience working with a diverse community and staff, and enjoy working in a fast-paced, innovative team environment.

It is also critical for Senior Librarians to play a large role in enhancing the development and improvement of services to the community. The schedule for all the positions will include some evenings, Saturdays, and Sundays. Bilingual skills preferred.

Branch Managers: 2 Positions Available
Branch Managers are responsible for providing operational leadership for one or more library branches. Operational leadership includes management of library personnel, operations, workflow, and customer experience. Branch Managers will provide supervision, coaching, and management to branch staff and ensure that clerical and professional staff are well trained to complete their work in alignment with systemwide standards and expectations. Branch Managers will respond to emergency situations, including security incidents, customer issues, natural disasters, and/or emergency closures, in consultation with Library Administration. Additionally, they will lead the staff in conducting community engagement, programming, providing high caliber reference support and customer service, maintaining an in-demand library collection, and will maintain partnerships and communication with Friends of the Library, community organizations, volunteers, and other units and branches.

Digital Empowerment Senior Librarian: 1 Position Available

The Digital Empowerment Senior Librarian will provide leadership for citywide programs that advance digital inclusion, aligning them with the Library’s mission and the City’s Digital Empowerment Strategy. This position oversees both the SJ Access initiative, which manages the SJ Access Grant Program, device lending, and the delivery and development of Digital Skill Building Pathways curricula online and in person—and the launch and operation of the new AI Center at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, developing programs and resources focused on emerging technologies and the ethical use of AI.

The Digital Empowerment Senior Librarian will assess community and branch needs, enhance digital literacy programs, and build partnerships that expand equitable access to technology and digital learning opportunities for all residents. This role will also collaborate with educators, technology experts, and community organizations to expand access to advanced digital learning opportunities. This role supervises two full-time and one part-time staff, setting goals, managing timelines, and ensuring high-quality service delivery across all digital empowerment programs. Additionally, the position is responsible for fiscal management, including program budgeting, expenditure monitoring, and maintaining overall financial accountability of the SJ Access Grant program.

This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this, or other divisions or departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applicants from this recruitment.

Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience

A Master’s Degree in Library Science from an accredited college or university AND three (3) years of increasingly responsible professional library experience, including lead responsibility for professional and technical staff.

If assigned to a specialized program or service:

A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university AND four (4) years of library experience in a lead role related to the particular program assignment.

Other Qualifications

The ideal candidate will possess the following competencies, as demonstrated in past and current employment history. Desirable competencies for this position include:

• Job Expertise - Demonstrates knowledge of and experience with applicable professional/technical principles and practices, Citywide and departmental procedures/policies and federal and state rules and regulations.
  
• Communication Skills - Effectively conveys information and expresses thoughts and facts clearly, orally and in writing; demonstrates effective use of listening skills; displays openness to other people’s ideas and thoughts.
  
• Teamwork & Interpersonal Skills - Develops effective relationships with co-workers and supervisors by helping others accomplish tasks and using collaboration and conflict resolution skills.
  
• Leadership - Leads by example; demonstrates high ethical standards; remains visible and approachable and interacts with others on a regular basis; promotes a cooperative work environment, allowing others to learn from mistakes; provides motivational support and direction.
  
• Planning - Acts to align own unit's goals with the strategic direction of the organization; defines tasks and milestones to achieve objectives, while ensuring the optimal use of resources to meet those objectives.
  
• Problem Solving - Approaches a situation or problem by defining the problem or issue; determines the significance of problem(s); collects information; uses logic and intuition to arrive at decisions or solutions to problems that achieve the desired outcome.
  
• Supervision - Sets effective long and short-term goals based on a good understanding of management practices; establishes realistic priorities within available resources; provides motivational support; empowers others; assigns decision-making and work functions to others in an appropriate manner to maximize organizational and individual effectiveness.
  
  Selection Process
  

The selection process will consist of an evaluation of the applicant's training and experience based on the application and responses to the Job Specific Questions. Only the candidates whose backgrounds best match the position will be invited to proceed in the selection process.

You must answer all job-specific questions in order to beconsidered for this vacancy, or your application will be deemed incomplete and withheld from further consideration.

If you have questions about the duties of this position, the selection or hiring processes, please contact Irina Orozco at Irina.Orozco@sanjoseca.gov

Additional Information:

Employment Eligibility: Federal law requires all employees to provide verification of their eligibility to work in this country. Please be informed that the City of San Jose will NOT sponsor, represent or sign any documents related to visa applications/transfers for H1-B or any other type of visa which requires an employer application.

You must answer all job-specific questions to be considered for this vacancy or your application will be deemed incomplete and withheld from further consideration. Applicants are expected to write their own essays/responses.

Please note that applications are currently not accepted through CalOpps or any other third party job board application system.

This recruitment may be used to fill multiple positions in this, or other divisions or departments. If you are interested in employment in this classification, you should apply to ensure you are considered for additional opportunities that may utilize the applicants from this recruitment.

Please allow adequate time to complete the application and submit before the deadline or the system may not save your application. If your online application was successfully submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation email to the email address you provided. IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION, please email CityCareers@sanjoseca.gov and we will research the status of your application.

The City of San Jose offers a wide range of core health benefits including Medical, Dental, Vision, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, Disability, and Savings Plans. Please visit the City's benefits pagefor detailed information on coverage, cost, and dependent coverage.

For information on the City’s Retirement Plan(pension for full-time employees), please visit the Office of Retirement Services website. You will be able to view information based on different Sworn/Federated job classification.

In additional to the benefits above, there is an additional perks siteto explore further benefits of working for the City of San Jose like paid leave, educational reimbursements, and holiday pay are specific to the job classification and union membership.

Closing Date/Time: 12/1/2025 11:59 PM Pacific

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• City of San Jose

• 408-535-1285

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