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Library Assistants, Clerical resume example

A resume for a Library Assistants, Clerical needs to show the work itself: compile records, and sort, shelve, issue, and receive library materials such as books, electronic media, pictures, cards, slides and microfilm. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

  • Library Aide
  • Library Assistant
  • Library Circulation Assistant
  • Library Clerk
  • Acquisitions Assistant
  • Cataloging Assistant
  • Library Associate
  • Library Clerical Assistant
  • Library Services Assistant
  • Access Services Assistant
  • Administrative Library Assistant
  • Book Sorter
  • Bookmobile Driver
  • Braille and Talking Books Clerk
  • Catalog Library Assistant
  • Children's Library Assistant
  • Circulation Assistant
  • Circulation Clerk
  • Circulation Representative
  • Film Library Clerk
  • Interlibrary Loan Specialist
  • Librarian Assistant
  • Library Circulation Clerk
  • Library Customer Service Clerk

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

  • Sort books, publications, and other items according to established procedure and return them to shelves, files, or other designated storage areas.
  • Open and close library during specified hours and secure library equipment, such as computers and audio-visual equipment.
  • Locate library materials for patrons, including books, periodicals, tape cassettes, Braille volumes, and pictures.
  • Enter and update patrons' records on computers.
  • Answer routine inquiries and refer patrons in need of professional assistance to librarians.
  • Manage reserve materials by placing items on reserve for library patrons, checking items in and out of library, and removing out-of-date items.
  • Lend, reserve, and collect books, periodicals, videotapes, and other materials at circulation desks and process materials for inter-library loans.
  • Instruct patrons on how to use reference sources, card catalogs, and automated information systems.
  • Inspect returned books for condition and due-date status and compute any applicable fines.
  • Maintain records of items received, stored, issued, and returned and file catalog cards according to system used.
  • Perform clerical activities, such as answering phones, sorting mail, filing, typing, word processing, and photocopying and mailing out material.
  • Register new patrons and issue borrower identification cards that permit patrons to borrow books and other materials.
  • Process new materials including books, audio-visual materials, and computer software.
  • Provide assistance to librarians in the maintenance of collections of books, periodicals, magazines, newspapers, and audio-visual and other materials.

32 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

  • Sort books, publications, and other items according to established procedure and return them to shelves, files, or other designated storage areas, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Open and close library during specified hours and secure library equipment, such as computers and audio-visual equipment, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Locate library materials for patrons, including books, periodicals, tape cassettes, Braille volumes, and pictures, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Enter and update patrons' records on computers, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

  • maintain security
  • sort mail

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Some Preparation Needed”. These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Related roles

What this page cannot tell you

  • No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
  • This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
  • Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.