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The Library of Congress seeks early-career librarians to bring their intellectual engagement, technological savvy, and theoretical understanding of library and information science concepts to bear on practical challenges via the Librarians-in-Residence program. The program is managed by Internship and Fellowship Programs, Human Capital Directorate.
Learn more about this agency12/18/2020 to 01/22/2021
$59,534 - $77,396 per year
GS 09
Yes—as determined by the agency policy.
Not required
No
Temporary - Temporary - Temporary, Not-to-Exceed (NTE) six months with the possibility of an extension for up to four months. This program begins June 21, 2021 and ends December 17, 2021.
Full-Time
Excepted
09
No
No
Lib-in-Residence 2021
587596100
About the Librarians-in-Residence program:
The Librarians-in-Residence program offers early-career librarians the opportunity to develop their expertise and contribute to building, stewarding, or sharing the national collection. Some Librarians-in-Residence may also have the chance to create, manage, and distribute national collection metadata.
Library staff will mentor recently graduated librarians, emphasizing the application of theory to practice through hands-on work. During the six-month appointment, the Librarians-in-Residence will gain meaningful experience in at least one of the following core work areas: acquisitions and collection development; archives and special collections; digital services; cataloging and metadata; collection preservation; reference and instruction; and systems and standards.
Librarians-in-Residence will also be expected to present information from their educational experiences to Library of Congress staff in formal or informal settings.
The service units sponsoring librarian residents are Library Services; National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled; and the U.S. Copyright Office.
Knowledge Development:
Applies knowledge of standard library methods, techniques, concepts, and principles of one or more specialty areas of librarianship to independently perform assignments in acquisitions and collection development, archives and special collections, cataloging and metadata, collection preservation, digital services, reference and instruction, systems and standards.
Develops knowledge of the types of materials within the Library’s collections, including how they are collected, acquired, cataloged, preserved, and shared, and the procedures governing their use. Develops and maintains personal contacts and cooperative work relationships with librarians and others in Library Services; National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled; and the U.S. Copyright Office, with colleagues in other residency programs, and with subject matter experts in the field of librarianship and information science to provide or exchange information. Presents information to groups and persons with similar understanding of the subject. Attends workshops, conferences, seminars, or meetings in librarianship and other relevant fields for professional development.
Practical Skill Application:
Utilizes standard methods, techniques, concepts, and principles to complete assignments related to one or more specialty areas of librarianship.
Catalogs various materials in an automated cataloging environment where the bibliographic characteristics of the material are relatively easy to determine and cataloging decisions are made within established standards. Searches entries in automated and manual catalogs. Assigns headings to catalog entries. Resolves routine problems promptly and independently, involving the supervisor on only the more difficult problems and recommends solutions or courses of action.
Applies standard rules, guidelines, and reference tools and established techniques and practices; and participates in formulating plans for changes and improvements to cataloging-related issues.
Provides reference and/or research services where needs are relatively easy to determine from client interviews or written requests, and the bibliographic source materials are readily accessible, i.e., can be found within the Library’s collections or a database by use of standard search procedures. Orients users and explains procedures and regulations governing use and handling of the collection’s materials. Obtains, analyzes, and organizes information using standard reference tools and established techniques and practices. Searches and creates annotated bibliographies, guides, or other knowledge products to facilitate the client finding subject specific information and resources in print and online.
Assists in the creation and maintenance of information systems to manage the Library’s collections and meet existing and foreseeable needs for reference and research support. This includes assisting with creating, managing, and distributing national collection metadata and related standards.
Monitors the condition of collection material to ensure adherence to established standards and specifications and brings deteriorating items and those with special needs to the attention of division management.
Shares responsibility for the security and safe handling of materials by adhering to the Library’s collection security policies and procedures. Ensures items are not damaged, misfiled, or lost through use.
Participates in formulating plans for collection development limited to developing factual data, and provides assistance in investigating minor collection problems, issues, or questions to recommend courses of action.
No additional requirements to those listed above.
The program is open to students who earned or will complete their Master’s degree in library/information science from an American Library Association-accredited program after December 2019 and by June 2021. The program selectees will be expected to report to work in June 2021.
A complete application package will consist of:
Conditions of Employment:
The applicants will indicate their preferred placement from among the service units sponsoring the Librarians-in-Residence program. See applicant questionnaire.
The service units sponsoring librarian residents are Library Services; National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled; and the U.S. Copyright Office.
Telework may be granted at the beginning of the appointment by the supervisor at their discretion; however, participants will be expected to relocate to the Washington DC metropolitan area and be available to report onsite, as required by the position, if pandemic conditions improve and/or the Library modifies the terms of its current telework policy.
About Library Services:
Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the oldest federal cultural institution in the nation and the largest library in the world. Library Services serves as the central library within the Library of Congress and has primary responsibility to build, steward, make available, and assist others in using the Library of Congress’ unparalleled, multi-format and universal collection from its thirteen staffed locations (including six overseas offices). Staff acquire, catalog, process, preserve, and make accessible over 170 million collection items, while also providing reference, metadata, standards, and consultative services as appropriate to Congress, individual users, government agencies, other libraries, museums, cultural institutions and professional or community associations. The service unit provides leadership within the library and archives communities by serving as the maintenance agency for multiple standards, and by acting as a leader of or collaborator on numerous projects, groups, and or programs in the cultural heritage community. Library Services provides access to its staff and collections onsite via its reading rooms and online throughout the Library of Congress website at www.loc.gov.
About the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled:
Established by Congress in 1931, the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled administers a national library program that provides free braille and talking book library service for people with temporary or permanent low vision, blindness, or a physical disability that prevents them from reading or holding the printed page. Through a national network of 97 cooperating libraries and 3 machine-lending agencies, NLS selects and circulates more than 19 million books, magazines, and music scores in braille or audio formats. Digital audio and ebraille materials are also available through the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) service and the BARD Mobile app for iOS and Android devices.
About the U.S. Copyright Office:
The U.S. Copyright Office promotes creativity and free expression by administering the nation's copyright laws and by providing impartial, expert advice on copyright law and policy, for the benefit of all. The Copyright Office is responsible for administering a complex and dynamic set of laws, which include registration, the recordation of title and licenses, and a number of statutory licensing provisions. The Office also acts as a conduit for the Library, providing certain works of authorship, known as copyright deposits, to the Library for its collections. In fiscal 2018, the Office forwarded more than 736,000 works, worth a net value of $47.5 million, to the Library. The Office serves as the authoritative public record of copyright ownership in the United States.
The program is open to students who earned or will complete their Master’s degree in library/information science from an American Library Association-accredited program after December 2019 and by June 2021.
You must submit a legible copy of your college/university transcripts to your online application. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable at the time of application. Official transcripts will be required if selected. Failure to submit the required legible documentation at the time of application will result in disqualification of your application.
Foreign Education – Education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed equivalent to conventional/accredited U.S. education programs to be acceptable for Federal employment. If your college/university is outside the U.S., your transcripts must be accompanied by a report from a credential evaluation service that is a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or the Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE). Failure to submit a foreign education evaluation report will result in disqualification of your application.
Although it is the Library's policy to afford the maximum pay benefit to employees when setting rates of pay, a new appointee who has had no previous Federal service will generally be paid the minimum step of the grade.
The Library of Congress is an equal opportunity employer. Women, minorities, and persons with disabilities who meet eligibility requirements are strongly encouraged to apply.
Applicants must submit a complete application package that is received by the closing date of this announcement.
This agency provides reasonable accommodation to applicants with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please email ADA@loc.gov. The decision on granting reasonable accommodation will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Applicants with disabilities may be considered under special hiring procedures and must submit an appropriate certificate of eligibility when applying for this position. The proof or disability/certification may be issued by the State Vocational Rehabilitation Office, Disability Services or Career Services office of the applicant’s college or university, or the Department of Veterans Affairs. The letter must verify that the applicant has a severe disability and must be dated within three years of the date of the application. Certification from health care providers are not accepted. For more information contact the Library's Office of EEO/Diversity Programs at 202-707-6024 or email spp@loc.gov. FAILURE TO SUBMIT YOUR CERTIFICATION WILL CAUSE YOUR APPLICATION TO NOT BE CONSIDERED UNDER THE SELECTIVE PLACEMENT PROGRAM.
The Library of Congress is the national library of the United States and is part of the Legislative Branch of the Federal government. As such, all positions are in the excepted service.
Appointment/retention is subject to a favorable evaluation of an appropriate personnel security/suitability investigation.
The Library reserves the right to fill a lesser or greater number of vacancies indicated during the life of this vacancy announcement.
Initial appointments, permanent or indefinite, to the Library of Congress require completion of a one-year probationary period.
The Library of Congress may offer repayment for all or part of federally insured student loans. However, not all service units within the Library of Congress participates in the repayment of federally insured student loans. Therefore, determination to repay a federally insured student loan is subject to approval by the appropriate service unit.
A “Not to Exceed“ (NTE) status is used to identify an appointment with a specific ending date. However, the Library has the right to separate a NTE employee at any time due to either performance issues or budget constraints.
Are you a veteran? Please indicate the type of veterans' preference you are claiming in your application materials and/or applicant profile and provide the appropriate supporting documentation to validate your claim. Those applying for 5-point preference must submit Member Copy 4 of your DD 214. Those applying for 10-point preference must fill out an SF-15 (click here for the form) and provide the required documentation listed on the back of the form. If required supporting documentation is not attached, Veterans' Preference will not be considered in the application process.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILL, AND ABILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Applicants must demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs), gained through education, experience and/or training, which are needed to successfully perform the duties of the position:
The Library of Congress evaluates applicants through an applicant questionnaire and a structured interview. Applicants may also be screened for some jobs through licensing, certification, and/or education requirements, a narrative/application review, and/or a preliminary telephone interview. The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are marked with a double asterisk (**) in the vacancy announcement and the applicant questionnaire are considered the most critical for a position. To be considered for final selection, applicants must demonstrate fully acceptable experience in these designated KSAs in the narrative/application review, preliminary telephone and/or full structured interview. The various assessment tools listed above are designed to verify or explore applicants' experience, knowledge, and training directly related to the job in order to identify the best qualified applicants for selection.
For more information regarding eligibility requirements, please see the Library of Congress Merit Selection Plan, Section X.D, at: http://www.loc.gov/hr/employment/msp010909.pdf.
You must submit a legible copy of your college/university transcripts to your online application. Unofficial transcripts are acceptable at the time of application. Official transcripts will be required if selected. Failure to submit the required legible documentation at the time of application will result in disqualification of your application.
Foreign Education – Education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed equivalent to conventional/accredited U.S. education programs to be acceptable for Federal employment. If your college/university is outside the U.S., your transcripts must be accompanied by a report from a credential evaluation service that is a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or the Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE). Failure to submit a foreign education evaluation report will result in disqualification of your application.
Current or former federal employees must submit their most recent Notification of Personnel Action (SF-50 or equivalent).
Applicants with disabilities may be considered under special hiring procedures and must submit an appropriate certificate of eligibility when applying for this position. The proof or disability/certification may be issued by the State Vocational Rehabilitation Office, Disability Services or Career Services office of the applicant’s college or university, or the Department of Veterans Affairs. The letter must verify that the applicant has a severe disability and must be dated within three years of the date of the application. The program does not accept certification from health care providers. For more information contact the Library's Office of Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity Programs at 202-707-6024 or email spp@loc.gov. FAILURE TO SUBMIT YOUR CERTIFICATION WILL CAUSE YOUR APPLICATION TO NOT BE CONSIDERED UNDER THE SELECTIVE PLACEMENT PROGRAM.
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
Please carefully follow all instructions under the How to Apply tab to ensure you are considered for the position.
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 on USAJOBS. 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 USAJOBS 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 and submit your resume. 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 three options that will electronically attach your documentation to your online application once you finish answering the questions in the job announcement.
(1) You may select a document that you have already uploaded to USAJOBS for a previous announcement.
(2) 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.
(3) You may follow the "Faxing Supporting Documentation" instructions within the online application, which will provide the necessary cover sheets for each of your documents so that they will be correctly submitted. The fax number will be available on the cover sheet.
Please note that each cover sheet and corresponding document must be faxed separately. Be certain to review your complete fax transmittal confirmation to ensure that all pages have been received.
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 or in your USAJOBS profile before uploading them. If you try uploading them individually, only the last one sent will be visible in our system. Likewise, if sending them by fax, be sure and include both of them behind the respective fax cover sheet and send them as one fax. If you send them individually with the same cover sheet, the last one sent will overwrite the first one. Finally, if you upload a document, e.g. your undergraduate transcript, do not also fax that same document (or fax another undergraduate transcript), because whichever one you send last will be the only one that is 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 jobhelp@loc.gov , no later than 4:30pm EST of the Closing Date. REQUESTS FOR EXTENSIONS WILL NOT BE GRANTED.
Please review our evaluation process under Evaluation. You may check the status of your application for this position at any time by logging onto the USAJOBS "My USAJOBS" tab and clicking on "My Applications." You will receive final notification via e-mail when the vacancy has been filled.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/587596100. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.
Learn more about
The Library of Congress serves the Congress in fulfilling its duties and preserves and promotes knowledge and creativity for the benefit of the American people. It is the nation's oldest federal cultural institution and the world's largest library, with more than 158 million items in its physical collections (including books, manuscripts, prints, photos, film, video, and sound recordings) and over 37 million items online. Located primarily on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., the Library is the home of the U.S. Copyright Office, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the Law Library of Congress, and the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.
