Customer Services Assistant – Harlow Library

Essex County Counci; Harlow; On-site; GBP 24,000 - 28,000; Part time

Job summary

Essex County Council’s Library Service in Harlow is looking for a part-time Customer Services Assistant to work at Harlow Library. The role is 11 hours per week with a Saturday rota and actual earnings based on these hours (£7,717 per annum).

We welcome applicants who can deliver friendly customer service, assist with book circulation, signposting, and support children during library activities. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Closing date: 8 September 2026. Location: Harlow Library, Essex.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated IT skills or ability to learn IT systems.
• Customer service experience in any area.
• Confidence in speaking to customers and signposting them to Library services and other Council services.
• Enthusiasm and ideas to improve customer experience.
• Enjoy working within a team to make us brilliant.

Responsibilities

• Assist with book circulation and issuing to customers.
• Signpost customers to Library services and partner organisations.
• Assist with stock circulation, shelving, tidying and handling reservations and memberships.
• Support customers with catalogue use and the full library offer.
• Participate in promotional activities to generate income for Libraries.
• Undertake unlocking/locking up duties and act as a trusted keyholder as needed.

Skills

IT skills

Customer service

Signposting

Teamwork

Enthusiasm

Tools

IT systems

Job description

Customer Services Assistant - Harlow Library

Permanent,Part Time

£25,959 per annum (full time equivalent)

Location:Harlow

Working Style:Fixed-base worker

Closing Date: 8th September 2026

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

This role is part time, working 11 hours per week. Actual earnings based on these hours - £7,717 per annum.

Working days will be discussed at interview, however there will be a requirement to work at the library every Saturday.

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.

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.

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. We would therefore like you to deliver a short 5 minute activity at the interview that enables you to demonstrate your ability to engage with children. This could include reading a short children's story or sharing a children's nursery rhyme.

Accountabilities

• 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 time.
• Deliver engaging story and rhyme sessions to groups of parents and toddlers in the library.
• 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.

The Experience You Will Bring

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.

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

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 ensure everyone matters in