Fancy a job in a library? It seems everyone else does...

By Liam Murphy on Dec 9, 09 09:24 AM

WHETHER it's a reflection of these difficult economic times or maybe a result of all the publicity Wirral's libraries have received, it's hard to say.

But even Wirral Council was surprised at the response when they advertised for a home reader to work for its library service.

The part-time job, which let's face it is some way off what the chief exec gets in remuneration, attracted an extraordinary response.

In total the council was approached by 167 applicants when it advertised for the "Library Assistant, Home Readers Service".

A small clue for the popularity of this job may come from this story, earlier in the year.

At the time, according to an analysis of official figures by the TUC, it appeared that more people were applying for each job vacancy in Wirral than anywhere else in the Liverpool City Region.

According to the TUC, 19 people on Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) were chasing every job centre vacancy advertised in Wirral in January 2009, compared to 10 in Liverpool and five in Cheshire. The Wirral figure was the highest in the North West, matched only by Oldham.

However, 167 applicants is far beyond the 19 quoted in the Heswall News last March.

The council was unable to explain the massive attraction of this job, which will see the successful applicant "assist with the operation of the Home Readers Service".

Here is a more detailed description of duties:

1.To act for the Supervisor, Home Readers Service, in their absence
2.To assist the Supervisor, Home Readers Service, with:
(i) The operation of a delivery system to residential homes and to housebound readers.
(ii) The compilation of statistics.
(iii) The repair, processing and withdrawal of stock and general conservation work.
(iv) Answering client's enquiries, including telephone enquiries and assisting with requests as necessary.
3.Driving the delivery van as and when necessary.
4.Relief duties in other libraries and departments as required.
5.To be responsible for health and safety in the section to the extent laid down for posts of this level in the departmental Safety Policy (q.v.)
6.To carry out such other duties as may be required.
7.To be responsible for Quality Assurance to the extent required for posts of this level.
8.To be responsible for the operation of computer systems as appropriate.

Given the turmoil of Wirral's librarties over the last 12 months, I can only imagine there are some hidden perks in this job...

The council regularly advertises jobs on its website as well as in the press, and although the deadline for this job has passed, other jobs can be seen at http://www.wirral.gov.uk/jobs/general.asp