Law Librarian (Provisional), 3631

Nycourts; City of Albany (NY); On-site; USD 65,000 - 79,000; Full time

Job summary

The New York State Unified Court System seeks a Law Librarian in Albany or Kingston to manage legal research collections, perform bibliographic searches, assist judges and staff with research, and participate in acquisitions and cataloging activities. A Master’s degree in Library Science from an ALA-accredited program or a Law degree with one year of related professional library experience is required.

The position offers a base salary of $72,191 and may involve provisional appointment and

Qualifications

• Master's degree in Library Science from an ALA-accredited college or university with one year of professional library work experience in a legal setting.
• Alternatively, a Law Degree from an accredited law school with one year of professional library experience in a legal library.

Responsibilities

• Consult with judges and legal staff to identify research alternatives using all formats.
• Provide legal reference services in person, by telephone, and electronically.
• Prepare informational and instructional documentation to support research.
• Review and evaluate legal research materials for collection updates.
• Design and implement systematic evaluations of law library and chambers collections.
• Manage or assist in maintaining control of the collection and budgets.
• Assist with cataloguing and preserving rare book collections and digitization best practices.

Skills

Legal research

Library automation

Bibliographic searching

Public service

Education

MLS or MLS equivalent (ALA-accredited)

Law degree + library experience

Job description

UCS-23

EMPLOYMENT

OPPORTUNITYANNOUNCEMENT

UNIFIED COURT SYSTEM

PLEASE POSTANNOUNCEMENT NO. 3631POSITION TITLE: LAW LIBRARIAN JG: 20LOCATION: 3RD JUDICIAL DISTRICTALBANY COUNTY AND ULSTER COUNTY

BASE SALARY: $72,191

QUALIFICATIONS: Master's degree in Library Science or Library Information Sciences from an American Library Association(ALA) accredited college or university and one (1) year of professional work experience using library-automation, providing legal reference services or involving library administration. This experience musthave been in a law library or library information center with a significant legal collection; or Law Degreefrom an accredited law school and one (1) year of professional work experience using library automation,providing legal reference services or involving library administration. This experience must have been ina law library or library information center with a significant legal collection.

*Section 25.20 (a) Rules of the Chief Judge provides that an appointment may be made on a provisional/temporary basis provided there are no eligibles available for appointment from the existing eligible list. To be appointed on a permanent basis, you must take the civil service examination and be among the top three acceptors.

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF WORK: Under supervision of a Principal Law Librarian, Senior Law Librarian or other supervisory court personnel, Law Librarians are responsible for providing professional library service, including legal research assistance, original cataloging, assistance with acquisitions, library management in some libraries, clerical supervision, and collection-related responsibilities. Law Librarians provide information about the legal research collection, maintain the collection according to standard library guidelines, perform bibliographic searches, implement resource sharing and may provide professional-level direction and assistance to library personnel. Law Librarians operate a variety of library and research automation systems, participate in electronic reference and technical consortiums. Law Librarians assist higher-level law librarians in managing large diverse legal research collections in the Unified Court System, or have primary responsibility for operation of a small, less complex legal research collection that serves a small number of judges. In addition to responsibility for a main body of legal research material, Law Librarians may have responsibility for other collections, including those in individual chambers, in one or more separate geographical locations and perform other related library and administrative duties.ASSIGNMENT: There is one (1) position available in the Albany Law Library and one (1) position in the Kingston Law Library.Duties include, but are not limited to: consulting with judges and legal staff to identify research alternatives using all available formats; providing legal reference services in person, by telephone, and electronically; preparing informational and instructional documentation to support all types of research; reviewing and evaluating legal research materials to identify items to be added to or withdrawn from collections; designing and implementing systematic evaluations of law library and chambers collections;managing or assisting in managing the system for maintaining control of the collection; classifying new items in the collection according to library classification schedule and established guidelines; operating acquisitions system, including bibliographic searching, order preparation, receipt, payment and reporting, preparing reports and monitoring expenditures from library budget.This position may also assist with cataloguing and preserving rare book collections and developing best practices for digitizing library holdings and materials.

GENERAL INFORMATION: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by persons assigned to this title. They do not include all job duties performed by employees in the title, and every position does not necessarily require these duties. Although a position is available and situated at a specific location, the appointee may be subject to reassignment to any position in this title in this promotion unit dependent upon the needs of the Unified Court System. All applications received from this announcement may be used to fill any vacancies in this title that may occur in this court or agency within the next six (6) months. Position(s) available at the present time: 2 .

POSTING DATE: October 20, 2026 APPLICATIONS MUST BE POSTMARKED OR RECEIVED BY: November 17, 2026

The New York State Unified Court System is an equal opportunity employer, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender (including pregnancy and gender identity or expression), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, age, membership in an employee organization, parental status, military service, or other non-merit factor.