Customer Services Assistant – Colchester Libraries

Essex County Council; Colchester; On-site; GBP 13,000 - 26,000; Part time

Job summary

Essex County Council's Colchester Libraries are seeking a part-time Customer Services Assistant to cover across Colchester’s libraries, including Colchester Central Library, Greenstead Library and Prettygate Library. The role is 18.5 hours per week with a pro rata salary of £12,980 per annum.

You will support with book circulation, signpost customers to Library services and work as part of a team delivering inclusive sessions and community activities.

Qualifications

• IT systems knowledge or ability to learn
• Customer service experience in any area
• Confidence in speaking to customers and signposting to Library services and other council/partner services
• Enthusiasm and ideas
• Enjoy working within a team to make us as brilliant as possible
• Possession of a Driving Licence

Responsibilities

• Assist customers with book circulation and issuing
• Signpost customers to different services
• Support with stock circulation, shelving, and reservations
• Run community groups and inclusive sessions (craft groups, Storytime and Rhymetime)
• Assist with promotions and income generation in libraries
• Unlocking/locking up and be a trusted keyholder at smaller libraries
• Health & Safety responsibilities and action to improve safety
• Assist customers to use the library catalogue and learn the full library offer
• Data handling to improve customer and staff experience

Skills

IT skills

Customer service

Signposting

Teamwork

Driving Licence

Job description

Customer Services Assistant – Colchester Libraries

Permanent, Part Time

Up to £25,959 per annum (full time equivalent)

Location: Colchester

Working Style:

Come and join us in Libraries where we’re starting to reimagine what our libraries are going to be and help our present and future customers have the best experience possible.

We are currently recruiting a Customer Services Assistant working across Colchester Libraries. This is a part‑time position working 18.5 hours per week including every Saturday. The pro rata salary will be £12,980 per annum. You may be required to work at the following libraries.

• Colchester Central Library
• Greenstead Library
• Prettygate Library

The Role

You’ll join a service that is undergoing change. Libraries around the UK are evolving to meet the differing demands of our customers. The demands are often different dependent on the location of our Libraries, and this is where your knowledge will be invaluable. You’ll support with book circulation and issuing, signpost customers to different services and be our ears and eyes for what makes the difference to our customers. We want you to feel proud to play your role.

The Opportunity

Our Customer Service team are at the heart of what we do- they are the face of our libraries and our driving force. To join them you’ll need to be confident helping a diverse range of customers, with demands that change daily. We have an inclusive environment – your experience, your age and your perspectives are welcome in our team.

Key Responsibilities

• First and foremost – you like helping people. If you’ve got some IT skills – self‑taught or not, that’s ideal. We use self‑service equipment, and our customers need your empathy and patience at all times.
• Arranging and conducting a variety of community groups and inclusive sessions including craft groups, Storytime and Rhymetime for families with babies and toddlers.
• Health & Safety is key to what we do. We’d like you to be the kind of person who sees things that need sorting and help sort them out.
• You’ll help with promotional activities – we generate income in all our libraries and value your ideas. Especially ones that can be rolled out across all Libraries.
• Assisting customers to use the library catalogue and learn to use the full library offer.
• Ensure seamless stock circulation and management, involving sorting, shelving, tidying, and handling reservations, fines, and membership activities.
• Data drives us – you’ll help us look at it in different ways, ensuring that we focus on the customer and staff to improve what we offer.
• Our smaller libraries have less staff, so we’ll ask you to help out with unlocking / locking up, and ask you to be a trusted keyholder.

Experience and Qualifications:

We welcome candidates with a diverse range of experiences and qualifications. Here’s a sample – what we’re interested in is if you are brilliant at the basics which include:

• Demonstration that you know how to use IT systems, or have the ability to learn
• Customer service experience in any area
• Confidence in speaking to our customers and signposting them to Library services, other parts of the Council services and our partner organisations.
• Enthusiasm and ideas
• Enjoy working within a team to make us as brilliant as possible.
• Possession of a Driving Licence

We are dedicated to building a team that reflects the diverse community we serve. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment.

Please note that visa sponsorship is not available for this role. Applicants must have a current, unrestricted right to work in the UK.

Interviews

As a Customer Services Assistant, you will be required to work with children to develop and grow our audience in this key area of our business. Part of your responsibilities will be to deliver story and rhyme sessions to groups of parents and toddlers in a library setting.

As part of the interview process, you will be required to deliver a short 5‑minute activity that enables you to demonstrate your ability to engage with children.

Why Essex?

As one of the largest and most dynamic UK local authorities, Essex offers a stimulating public service environment. Covering over 1,420 square miles and serving 1.8 million residents, we’re committed to transformational change and delivering better quality at lower cost. Recognised in the top three of the latest IMPOWER index for productivity, we are dedicated to making a positive difference for residents, communities and businesses across the county. With flexible working options and a focus on innovation, whether you are looking to develop your career or contribute to the local community, Essex is the ideal place for you.

In March 2026, Greater Essex was accepted on to the devolution priority programme, where we will work towards establishing a Mayoral Combined County Authority. You can read more about these changes, and what this may mean for this role, on our .

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job. Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments during the process. We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

Once you’ve secured your role within Essex County Council you will receive many great employee benefits, including support for unpaid carers and flexible working arrangements to accommodate their needs.

At Essex County Council, we value integrity and ethical behaviour. We kindly ask that you embrace our code of conduct and the , including throughout the recruitment process. Your commitment to these standards helps us maintain a positive and respectful workplace for everyone.

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

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