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Student Employment in the Library

About Working in the Library

The Claremont Colleges Library provides meaningful work opportunities to students of The Claremont Colleges. Library Student Assistants gain valuable work experience in a vital academic library while enhancing their research skills in support of their academic and career goals. The library provides a variety of different positions to meet the specific interests of students, and also provides professional development opportunities, including skill-building workshops and the chance to gain leadership experience by serving on library teams and committees. Enhance your student experience and begin your career at the library!

Opportunities for Student Assistants

Use the descriptions below to learn what the job opportunities across the different library divisions entail.

Type of work: Helping users navigate the library’s physical and digital resources and services, perform copy cataloging of books, process archival collections processing.

Skills: Fluency in written and spoken Chinese, Japanese, and/or Korean, user-centered customer service, basic computer skills.

Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

 

The Claremont Center for Engagement with Primary Sources (CCEPS) integrates primary source materials more fully into the teaching and research mission of The Claremont Colleges by providing hands-on experience for both undergraduate and graduate students, while enhancing access to archival collections. Previous fellows have created online exhibits of Special Collections materials and fully processed archival collections. The work of past CCEPS fellows can be found on the CCEPS blog: Out of the Box.

Type of work: Library catalog maintenance projects; perform record updates; copy cataloging; process new materials; assist with ongoing inventory projects; stacks maintenance; reshelve returned items; shift materials on shelves; process resource sharing requests.

Skills: Excel; attention to detail; basic computer skills and willingness to learn new systems.

Hours: Typical hours fall between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.; certain positions may be scheduled on nights and weekends during hours that the library is open.

Help make our digital collections discoverable through the Claremont Colleges Digital Library. Student assistants will be responsible for digitizing, uploading, and creating metadata for archive and special collection materials.

Type of Work: Use scanners, camera, and audio/visual equipment to digitize images, digital files and other materials; Track item information into project trackers using Excel; Create records of digitized items using library metadata software; Work on special projects as assigned; Adhere to the proper standards of handling archive/special collections materials.

Skills: Attention to detail; Basic computer, scanning, and typing skills; Willingness to learn new systems.

Hours: Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Provide troubleshooting and peer mentoring for the Library’s data and digital scholarship spaces and programs.

Type of Work: Peer consultations for students working on GIS and other data science projects in the Digital Scholarship Collaboratory; basic tech troubleshooting for computer workstations; Occasional writing/editing of Library instructional materials.

Skills: Solid computer skills; Some familiarity with applications such as GIS, Tableau, R/RStudio and related data tools (such as Excel).

Hours: Primarily between 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. on weekdays with some flexibility.

Type of work: Provide access to the unique collections of The Claremont Colleges Library through paging, shelving, digitizing, and processing special collections materials, helping users navigate resources and services, preserve and maintain collections.

Skills: Attention to detail, user-centered customer service, basic computer skills

Hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

 

Type of work: Circulating library materials; helping users navigate the library’s physical  and digital resources and services; answering questions; referring to appropriate contact when necessary.

Skills: User-centered customer service and basic computer skills for circulating items, searching for materials, and recording statistics.

Hours: User Services Student Assistants can work any hours that the library is open.

Application

If you are interested in working in the library, please fill out the Library Student Assistant Application. If your application meets the criteria for an available position, we’ll reach out to you for an interview.

Frequently Asked Questions

The library is looking for highly-engaged students who are willing to learn and take on new challenges. A successful application highlights what you think you can contribute to the work of the library and what experiences or skills you hope to gain by working in the library.
The library hires across several divisions as needed. This means that we will keep your application on file for the full academic year. If your application meets the criteria for an available position, we will reach out to schedule an interview.
You can contact Ryan Tickle.
Yes. We hire students with and without work study.
Yes. If you are hired by the library and you don’t already have a Social Security number, you can work with the international student office on your campus and we will provide a letter of employment.
Our student positions are available only to current students of the Claremont Colleges. You can find open library staff positions on The Claremont Colleges Services Employment Opportunities page.