Crafting your CV to stand out in a competitive library science field is an intimidating challenge. Our guide will offer strategies to showcase your archival expertise and digital literacy skills, ensuring a CV that captures the attention of potential employers.
- Applying best practices from real-world examples to ensure your profile always meets recruiters' expectations;
- What to include in your work experience section, apart from your past roles and responsibilities?
- Why are both hard and soft skills important for your application?
- How do you need to format your CV to pass the Applicant Tracker Software (ATS) assessment?
If you're writing your CV for a niche librarian role, make sure to get some inspiration from professionals:
How to ensure your profile stands out with your librarian CV format
It's sort of a Catch 22. You want your librarian CV to stand out amongst a pile of candidate profiles, yet you don't want it to be too over the top that it's unreadable. Where is the perfect balance between your CV format simple, while using it to shift the focus to what matters most. That is - your expertise. When creating your librarian CV:- list your experience in the reverse chronological order - starting with your latest roles;
- include a header with your professional contact information and - optionally - your photograph;
- organise vital and relevant CV sections - e.g. your experience, skills, summary/ objective, education - closer to the top;
- use no more than two pages to illustrate your professional expertise;
- format your information using plenty of white space and standard (2.54 cm) margins, with colours to accent key information.
Once you've completed your information, export your librarian CV in PDF, as this format is more likely to stay intact when read by the Applicant Tracker System or the ATS. A few words of advice about the ATS - or the software used to assess your profile:
- Generic fonts, e.g. Arial and Times New Roman, are ATS-compliant, yet many candidates stick with these safe choices. Ensure your CV stands out by using a more modern, and simple, fonts like Lato, Exo 2, Volkhov;
- All serif and sans-serif fonts are ATS-friendly. Avoid the likes of fancy decorative or script typography, as this may render your information to be illegible;
- Both single- and double-column formatted CVs could be assessed by the ATS;
- Integrating simple infographics, icons, and charts across your CV won't hurt your chances during the ATS assessment.
PRO TIP
Use font size and style strategically to create a visual hierarchy, drawing the reader's eye to the most important information first (like your name and most recent job title).
The top sections on a librarian CV
- Professional Summary highlights experience and skills vital for a librarian role, showcasing the candidate's suitability for the position.
- Library Work Experience details previous roles and responsibilities, evidencing hands-on expertise in library services.
- Information Technology Skills show proficiency in library databases and digital resource management, essential for modern librarianship.
- Educational Background outlines relevant academic achievements, including library science qualifications, critical for the librarian role.
- Certifications and Memberships demonstrate ongoing professional development and commitment to librarianship through recognised industry bodies.
What recruiters value on your CV:
- Highlight your proficiency with library management systems and digital databases, as these are essential tools in modern librarianship for organising and accessing collections.
- Detail your experience with community outreach and programming, as engagement with library users through workshops, readings, and educational events is a key aspect of the librarian's role.
- Emphasise any specialised knowledge or subject expertise you have, since librarians often act as research assistants and need to guide patrons within specific academic or literary domains.
- Reflect on your organisational and archival skills, showcasing how you manage, preserve, and catalogue various types of media and historical documents.
- Include competencies in literacy promotion and information literacy instruction, as librarians are expected to assist patrons in developing research skills and fostering a love for reading.
Recommended reads:
Tips and tricks on writing a job-winning librarian CV header
The CV header is the space which most recruiters would be referring most often to, in the beginning and end of your application. That is as the CV header includes your contact details, but also a headline and a professional photo. When writing your CV header:
- Double-check your contact details for spelling errors or if you've missed any digits. Also, ensure you've provided your personal details, and not your current work email or telephone number;
- Include your location in the form of the city and country you live in. If you want to be more detailed, you can list your full address to show proximity to your potential work place;
- Don't include your CV photo, if you're applying for roles in the UK or US, as this may bias initial recruiters' assessments;
- Write a professional headline that either integrates the job title, some relevant industry keywords, or your most noteworthy achievement.
In the next part of our guide, we'll provide you with professional CVs that showcase some of the best practices when it comes to writing your headline.
Examples of good CV headlines for librarian:
- Lead Academic Librarian | MLIS Certified | Research & Digital Archive Expertise | 10+ Years’ Experience
- Senior Public Librarian | BSc Information Science | Community Engagement Specialist | Children's Literature Advocate | 8 Years
- Technical Services Librarian | Metadata Management | MLIS | Electronic Resources | Bilingual French/English | 5 Years
- Reference Librarian & Information Literacy Instructor | User Education | MA Library Studies | 12 Years in Academic Libraries
- Junior School Librarian | BA English & Information Studies | Emerging Technologies Enthusiast | 3 Years' Experience
- Corporate Research Librarian | Business Intelligence | Competitive Analysis | MLIS Certified | 7 Years Professional Research
Your librarian CV introduction: selecting between a summary and an objective
librarian candidates often wonder how to start writing their resumes. More specifically, how exactly can they use their opening statements to build a connection with recruiters, showcase their relevant skills, and spotlight job alignment. A tricky situation, we know. When crafting you librarian CV select between:
- A summary - to show an overview of your career so far, including your most significant achievements.
- An objective - to show a conscise overview of your career dreams and aspirations.
Find out more examples and ultimately, decide which type of opening statement will fit your profile in the next section of our guide:
CV summaries for a librarian job:
Narrating the details of your librarian CV experience section
Perhaps you've heard it time and time again, but, how you present your experience is what matters the most. Your CV experience section - that details your work history alongside your accomplishments - is the space to spotlight your unqiue expertise and talents. So, avoid solely listing your responsibilities, but instead:
- adverts' keywords and integrate those in your experience section;
- Use your CV to detail how you've been promoted in the past by including experience in the reverse chronological order.
Before you start writing your librarian CV experience section, dive into some industry-leading examples on how to structure your bullets.
Best practices for your CV's work experience section
- Developed and managed a cataloguing system that improved resource accessibility for patrons, leading to a 15% increase in library usage.
- Coordinated and hosted weekly children's storytelling hours that consistently attracted 30+ attendees, fostering early literacy skills and community engagement.
- Curated a diverse collection of resources across various media, ensuring the representation of marginalised voices and promoting cultural awareness.
- Implemented a user education programme that taught patrons how to use digital research databases, resulting in a 25% rise in database utilisation.
- Spearheaded a community outreach initiative which partnered with local schools to enhance students' research skills and library awareness.
- Managed an inter-library loan system with a 98% success rate in obtaining rare materials for patron research and scholarly work.
- Actively participated in regional library consortia, contributing to policy-making and the promotion of innovative library services.
- Utilised social media platforms to promote library events and resources, increasing the library's online following by 40% within one year.
- Conducted regular analysis of library usage statistics to identify trends and inform the strategic acquisition of new materials and services.
- Managed a team of 15 library assistants and librarians, ensuring seamless day-to-day operations and a 20% increase in library patron satisfaction
- Pioneered the introduction of RFID tagging system for tracking books, which reduced misplaced inventory by 35% and improved check-out efficiency
- Coordinated with local schools to implement a summer reading programme, increasing children's library engagement by 50% compared to previous summers
- Established an academic resource sharing network with five neighbouring universities, resulting in a 30% cost saving on academic journal subscriptions
- Developed and delivered an information literacy workshop series, teaching over 2,000 students critical research skills
- Curated a digital archive of the university's historical publications, enhancing the preservation and accessibility of academic heritage
- Reconceptualised the children's library zone, attracting an average of 400 visits per month, a 25% increase over the previous year
- Implemented a bilingual story time in collaboration with the local community, supporting language development for over 100 children annually
- Managed a budget of £30,000 for children's resources, selecting materials that led to a notable expansion of the young reader's programme
- Oversaw the integration of an online library management system that improved book renewal rates by 80%, significantly increasing the efficiency of library operations
- Trained 20 library staff members on the new digital resource platforms, enhancing the team's technological capability to assist patrons
- Conducted a comprehensive digitalisation project, making over 10,000 historical documents accessible to the public online
- Orchestrated the complete refurbishment of the main library, resulting in a 40% increase in library memberships within the first year upon reopening
- Secured £100,000 in funding from various grants for the development of a local history section, attracting researchers and historians nationwide
- Expanded the library's digital services, including e-books and online databases, leading to a 60% increase in digital loan activity
- Designed and implemented a city-wide library marketing campaign, resulting in an increase in library card registrations by 15% over six months
- Formed strategic partnerships with 10 local organisations to host pop-up library events, engaging with over 5,000 residents
- Initiated 'One City, One Book' project, which boosted community reading participation rates by 60% compared to the previous year
- Led the digital transformation strategy for the library, which increased the library's online presence and user interactions fourfold
- Managed the licensing and curation of the e-media collection, achieving a year-on-year growth of 20% in user downloads
- Spearheaded the development of the library's mobile app, which saw an uptake of 10,000 active users within the first year of launch
- Revitalised the library's cataloguing process by introducing automated cataloguing software, increasing processing efficiency by 45%
- Managed the acquisition and processing of over 50,000 library items per year, maintaining accurate records and timely availability to patrons
- Collaborated with IT staff to enhance the library's online public access catalogue, improving user experience and search accuracy
Writing your CV without professional experience for your first job or when switching industries
There comes a day, when applying for a job, you happen to have no relevant experience, whatsoever. Yet, you're keen on putting your name in the hat. What should you do? Candidates who part-time experience , internships, and volunteer work.
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Describe how each job helped you grow or learn something new, showing a continuous development path in your career.
Mix and match hard and soft skills across your librarian CV
Your skill set play an equally valid role as your experience to your application. That is because recruiters are looking for both:
- hard skills or your aptitude in applying particular technologies
- soft skills or your ability to work in a team using your personal skills, e.g. leadership, time management, etc.
Are you wondering how you should include both hard and soft skills across your librarian CV? Use the:
- skills section to list between ten and twelve technologies that are part of the job requirement (and that you're capable to use);
- strengths and achievements section to detail how you've used particular hard and soft skills that led to great results for you at work;
- summary or objective to spotlight up to three skills that are crucial for the role and how they've helped you optimise your work processes.
One final note - when writing about the skills you have, make sure to match them exactly as they are written in the job ad. Take this precautionary measure to ensure your CV passes the Applicant Tracker System (ATS) assessment.
Top skills for your librarian CV:
Information Organisation
Cataloguing Techniques
Collection Development
Reference Services
Information Literacy Instruction
Library Management Systems
Digital Archiving
Research Methods
Database Management
Bibliographic Instruction
Customer Service
Interpersonal Communication
Problem Solving
Attention to Detail
Teamwork
Time Management
Adaptability
Continuous Learning
Organisational
Initiative
PRO TIP
If there's a noticeable gap in your skillset for the role you're applying for, mention any steps you're taking to acquire these skills, such as online courses or self-study.
Education and more professional qualifications to include in your librarian CV
If you want to showcase to recruiters that you're further qualified for the role, ensure you've included your relevant university diplomas. Within your education section:
- Describe your degree with your university name(-s) and start-graduation dates;
- List any awards you've received, if you deem they would be impressive or are relevant to the industry;
- Include your projects and publications, if you need to further showcase how you've used your technical know-how;
- Avoid listing your A-level marks, as your potential employers care to learn more about your university background.
Apart from your higher education, ensure that you've curated your relevant certificates or courses by listing the:
- name of the certificate or course;
- name of the institution within which you received your training;
- the date(-s) when you obtained your accreditation.
In the next section, discover some of the most relevant certificates for your librarian CV:
PRO TIP
Focus on describing skills in the context of the outcomes they’ve helped you achieve, linking them directly to tangible results or successes in your career.
Recommended reads:
Key takeaways
Write your professional librarian CV by studying and understanding what the role expectations are. You should next:
- Focus on tailoring your content to answer specific requirements by integrating advert keywords through various CV sections;
- Balance your technical know-how with your personal skills to showcase what the unique value would be of working with you;
- Ensure your CV grammar and spelling (especially of your key information and contact details) is correct;
- Write a CV summary, if your experience is relevant, and an objective, if your career ambitions are more impressive;
- Use active language by including strong, action verbs across your experience, summary/objective, achievements sections.
