Regional Senior Librarian

Description

This position supervises and coordinates the activities, facilities, and operations of an assigned library region, including reference and patron services, circulation activities and facility maintenance needs. Provides complex staff assistance to the Librarian Manager.

The person selected for this position will act as a branch manager for a large regional library, oversee smaller branches in the library system, and will have significant supervisory responsibility over several different Library classifications.

This senior member of the library management team will play an integral part in the overall strategic direction of the library.

The current vacancy is a full-time regular position at the Ventura E.P. Foster Library in the city of Ventura. Work is primarily performed in a Library environment, but the incumbent is required to meet off site with staff or other governmental organizations, community leaders, and the public. Work performed includes evenings, weekends, and/or irregular hours.

IDEAL CANDIDATE:
The ideal candidate will have strong leadership experience specifically in the exploration, innovation, development and delivery of excellent library services, in a welcoming service environment, through community and staff engagement; have an in depth knowledge of change leadership; possess exceptional team building, organizational, planning, analytical/problem solving, interpersonal, collaborative and communication skills; and model respect, empathy, tact, discretion, and diplomacy while systematically building library support through diverse community constituents.

PAYROLL TITLE: Senior City Librarian

EDUCATIONAL/BILINGUAL INCENTIVE: Incumbents may be eligible for an educational incentive of 2.5%, 3.5%, or 5% based on completion of an Associate's, Bachelor's, or Master's degree that is not required for the classification. Incumbents may also be eligible for bilingual incentive depending upon operational need and certification of skill.

Senior City Librarian is a Management classification and is not eligible for overtime compensation.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
OPENING DATE: Monday, May 04, 2026
CLOSING DATE: Continuous and may close at any time; therefore, the schedule for the remainder of the process will depend upon when we receive a sufficient number of qualified applications to meet business needs.
REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS: Applications will be reviewed on a weekly basis beginning the week of May 11, 2026.

Examples Of Duties

Duties and assignments may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Participates in setting branch library goals, objectives, and policy; collaborates with City Staff in the planning and development of programs and services within the branch library; implements policies, procedures, and work standards for the branch library;
• Supervises the work of professional, technical, and clerical staff; schedule, train, and evaluates staff;
• Acts autonomously in the development of relationships with and represents the Agency to City government and other community organizations such as Friends of the Library, schools, and service clubs;
• Works closely with the Friends of the Library on fundraising and other activities to improve library service;
• Answers questions from staff, patrons, and community members;
• Oversees maintenance of building and grounds for the library branch; calls for and schedules vendors or other workers; sees that repairs are correctly carried out; monitors the work of janitorial and grounds maintenance workers;
• Prepares branch library budget within the City/Region after analyzing past circulation, expenditure, book order patterns or statistics;
• Interprets library policies effectively to the public;
• Makes presentations to City officials, government entities, community organizations, staff, and the public;
• Interviews and recommends the appointment of personnel, provides or coordinates staff training;
• Oversees branch library cash receipts, sets procedures for the accurate recording of receipts, and the security of these;
• Recruits and supervises branch library volunteers;
• Evaluates community needs; develops specialized programs, plans and conducts outreach and special interest programs to encourage library usage;
• Coordinates acquisition, circulation, distribution, and care and preservation of library materials; and
• Performs other related duties as required.

Typical Qualifications

These are entrance requirements to the examination process and assure neither continuance in the process nor placement on an eligible list.

EDUCATION, TRAINING and EXPERIENCE
Comprehensive education, training and/or experience in library branch management and/or library administration which has led to the acquisition of the required knowledge, skills and abilities.

An example of qualifying education training and experience is a master's degree in library science AND three (3) years of professional experience in public service libraries.

NECESSARY SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

• Must possess or have the ability to obtain and maintain a valid California driver license.
• Considerable experience supervising or leading a team.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION: Work is primarily performed in a Library environment, but the incumbent may be required to meet off site with staff or other governmental organizations, community leaders, and the public. May be required to work weekends and evenings, and/or irregular hours.

DESIRED:

• Experience overseeing and coordinating staffing for a Library system or department.
• Experience creating and administering Library programs.
• Experience developing and following Library budgets.
• Experience building relationships and in community outreach.
• Experience with grant management.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and ABILITIES:

Thorough knowledge of:

• Library methods, techniques and procedures;
• Laws and regulations relating to library operations;
• Administrative methods and techniques;
• Library automation; audiovisual materials and methods;
• General management practices;
• Supervision and training;
• Professional reference tools, collection development and maintenance;
• Public relations;
• Fiscal planning.

Working skills to:

• Assume leadership and apply creativity in the formulation of needed changes in methods and procedures;
• Develop and maintain relevant collections and programs;
• Evaluate community needs and develop methods for providing library services;
• Plan and organize services;
• Exercise effective interpersonal skills in dealing with subordinates, city staff, community and business leaders, and the public;
• Promote community participation and enthusiasm in library services;
• Demonstrate a strong customer service orientation;
• Develop community support;
• Make presentations before groups instruct, train, supervise and evaluate professional, technical and clerical staff;
• Understand the diverse needs of a multi-cultural community for library services.

Recruitment Process

FINAL FILING DATE: This is a continuous recruitment and may close at any time; therefore, apply as soon as possible if you are interested. Your application must be received by County of Ventura Human Resources in Ventura, California, no later than 5:00 p.m. on the closing date.

To apply online, please refer to our website at www.venturacounty.gov/jobs . A paper application can be obtained by calling (805) 654-5129. Our address is County of Ventura Human Resources, 800 South Victoria Avenue, L-1970, Ventura, CA 93009.

NOTE: If presently permanently employed in another "merit" or "civil service" public agency/entity in the same or substantively similar position as is advertised, and if appointed to that position by successful performance in a "merit" or "civil service" style examination, then appointment by "Lateral Transfer" may be possible. If interested, please click here for additional information.

Note to Applicants: Sufficient information must be provided under the Education/Work Experience portion of the application and supplemental questionnaire to thoroughly and accurately demonstrate your qualifications to determine eligibility. A resume may be attached to supplement your responses in the above referenced sections; however, it may not be substituted in lieu of the application.

SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE - qualifying
All applicants are required to complete and submit the questionnaire for this examination at the time of filing. The supplemental questionnaire may be used throughout the examination process to assist in determining each applicant's qualifications for the position. Failure to complete and submit the questionnaire may result in the application being removed from consideration.

APPLICATION EVALUATION - qualifying
All applications will be reviewed to determine whether the stated requirements are met. Applicants meeting the stated requirements will be invited to continue to the next step in the examination process.

TRAINING & EXPERIENCE EVALUATION: A Training and Experience Evaluation (T&E) is a structured evaluation of the job application materials submitted by a candidate, including the written responses to the supplemental questionnaire. The T&E is NOT a determination of whether the candidate meets the stated requirements; rather, the T&E is one method for determining who are the better qualified among those who have shown that they meet the stated requirements. In a T&E, applications are either scored or rank ordered according to criteria that most closely meet the business needs of the department. Candidates are typically scored/ranked in relation to one another; consequently, when the pool of candidates is exceptionally strong, many qualified candidates may receive a score or rank which is moderate or even low resulting in them not being advanced in the process.

NOTE: The selection process may consist of an Oral Exam, which may be preceded or replaced with the score from a Training and Experience Evaluation (T&E), contingent upon the size and quality of the candidate pool. In a typical T&E, your training and experience are evaluated in relation to the background, experience and factors identified for successful job performance during a job analysis. For this reason, it is recommended that your application materials clearly show your relevant background and specialized knowledge, skills, and abilities. It is also highly recommended that the supplemental questions within the application are completed with care and diligence. Responses such as "See Resume" or "Refer to Resume" are not acceptable and may disqualify an applicant from further evaluation.

ORAL EXAMINATION - 100%: A job-related oral examination may be conducted to evaluate and compare participating examinees’ knowledge, skills, and abilities in relation to those factors which job analysis has determined to be essential for successful performance of the job. Applicants must earn a score of seventy percent (70%) or higher to qualify for placement on the eligible list.

If there are three (3) or fewer qualified applicants, an examination will not be conducted. Instead, a score of seventy percent (70%) will be assigned to each applicant, and each applicant will be placed on the eligible list.

ELIGIBLE LIST
Applicants successfully completing the examination process may be placed on an eligible list for a period of one (1) year.

The eligible list established from this recruitment will be used to fill current and future Regular (including Temporary and Fixed-Term), Intermittent, and Extra-Help vacancies within Library Services. There is currently one (1) Regular, Full-Time vacancy.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: A thorough pre-employment, post offer background investigation which may include inquiry into past employment, education, criminal background information, and driving record may be required for this position.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
The County of Ventura is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.

For further information about this recruitment, please contact Esmeralda Oseguera by email at Esmeralda.Oseguera@venturacounty.gov or by phone at (805) 477-7268.

YOUR BENEFITS AS A COUNTY OF VENTURA EMPLOYEE

MANAGEMENT

To learn more about Benefits, Retirement, and the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), see links below.

• Benefits website or you may call (805) 654-2570.
• Retirement FAQ's
• Memorandum of Agreement

Union Codes: MB3, MB4, MS, MT, MCC, MU

Closing Date/Time: Continuous

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• County of Ventura

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