Education and culture
Librarian CV: example and template
This example is for librarians at public, school, university and research libraries, for graduates in library and information science, and for people who want to start working in a library after another job.
The employer wants to know whether you serve readers, catalogue collections, know a library system and can run an activity or an author event. We show you how to describe this on your CV, even if you are just starting out.
How to write a librarian CV
Professional summary
Write which library you work at, for how long and what your main work is: serving readers, processing collections or activities and events. Add the library system you know, because libraries ask about it directly. If you run activities for children or adults, mention it in the first sentences.
Library and information science graduate with a work placement at a university library. I know the basics of MARC 21 cataloguing, worked at the loans desk and helped with exhibitions. I want to work at a public library and run activities for children.
Experience: duties and achievements
Describe the number of readers, the collections you process, activities and events. Show numbers, because libraries report on attendance and the number of activities. Add whether you raise money for purchases and projects, because this is more and more often part of the job.
Weaker: Serving readers.
Better: Serving about 60 readers a day: loans, registrations, reservations and information about the collection.
Weaker: Cataloguing.
Better: Cataloguing new books and audiobooks in MARC 21 format in the library system.
Weaker: Organising activities.
Better: Reading activities for preschools and schools, about 8 groups a month.
Skills worth listing
List library skills, systems and the ways you work with readers. In your soft skills show patience and ease in talking to all kinds of people, from children to seniors, because you need to be able to talk to everyone.
Professional skills
- Serving readers
- Cataloguing and processing collections
- Library systems
- Reading activities
- Events and promotion
- Funding applications
Personal skills
- Patience
- Contact with people of all ages
- Accuracy
- Creativity
- Teamwork
Qualifications and training
List a degree in information science or library courses, a teaching qualification if you want to work at a school, and training in cataloguing or reading promotion. A school library usually requires a teaching qualification.
Librarian CV with no experience
Describe your studies, work placements and volunteering at a library, for example at events or activities for children. Add work with people elsewhere, for example at a bookshop or in customer service.
Write what you like to read and which activities you would like to run. Libraries look for people with ideas for working with readers, not only people who know the lending rules.
Tailoring your CV to the job offer
A public library looks for work with readers and events, a research library for processing collections and information science, and a school library for activities with pupils and a teaching qualification. Move to the top what the job ad is about, and add the library system if the ad names it.
Questions and answers
What should a librarian put on a CV?
The type of library, serving readers, cataloguing, the library system, activities and events, numbers, studies and training.
Does a librarian need a library science degree?
Not always. Many libraries hire people with other degrees, but a degree in information science or library courses help.
Can you become a librarian with no experience?
Yes. On your CV show work placements, volunteering, work with people and ideas for activities for readers.
Does a school library need a teaching qualification?
Usually yes, because a school librarian is a teacher and runs activities with pupils.