WELCOME                                       

Welcome to the Rutgers University Libraries. The Libraries at Rutgers support and enrich the instructional, research, and public service missions of the University through the stewardship of scholarly information and the delivery of information services. We serve the entire Rutgers University community, other universities, major industry, and the general public. More than three million patrons pass through our doors every year. Our staff takes great pride in the services they provide and we hope you will as well.

Working at a large academic library offers you many advantages as students of Rutgers University. The knowledge you gain here can help you with your own academic research and studying needs. Based on your work performance, we will be happy to provide you with a reference for future employment or scholastic goals.

DEPARTMENT INTRODUCTION

With access to over six million volumes, the Rutgers University Libraries rank among the nation's top research libraries.  The Library system is comprised of more than twenty libraries, centers, and reading rooms located on Rutgers' campuses in New Brunswick/Piscataway, Camden, Newark, and RBHS.

Hourly and student employees work within many different departments at the Libraries. Hourly employees perform a variety of tasks from public service, administrative/clerical tasks or collections maintenance. Most hourly employees will perform a wide range of functions geared towards providing public service to the community. Your specific work responsibilities may not involve all of these functions, a sample of departments and tasks are listed below:

Billing

Our staff and supervisors will handle any billing issues or fines and fees associated with a library user account. Fees can be associated with a late return of borrowed equipment and lost or damaged items.  Billing staff are also responsible for processing claims returns and billing for lost books. Hourly employees do not handle any of the responsibilities of billing or cash transactions at a service desk.

Circulation Desk

The circulation desk primarily involves checking out materials to patrons and checking back in items that are returned.  There will often be times when you will need to provide further assistance such as helping a first-time user check out books, explaining borrowing privileges and library policies, or giving directional information.

Collection Management

Collection Management is responsible for shelving, searching, shifting, sorting and weeding materials in the book stacks to maintain the integrity of the collection.

Fordham Commons/Lab

The Fordham Commons at the Douglass Library consists of 13 computers (mostly Mac) that have software to enable users to produce multimedia projects.  These include software for video editing, music production, photo editing, graphics creation, music notation, and many others.  Hardware is also available to enable users to digitize video, audio cassettes and records, as well as a large format scanner.  Additional hardware is available for loan at the Circulation Desk.  The Fordham Lab has most of the same software, and has musical keyboards attached to the computers.  The Fordham Lab is open when classes are not being held in the space.

Media

The Media Service Point maintains the Libraries' collection of visual resources in New Brunswick, along with the audio recordings of the Laurie Performing Arts Library. Hourly employees working at Media will assist patrons at the Media Public Service Desk, which includes answering the office phones, operating video playback equipment, and circulating audio-visual materials.  Specific tasks may also include shelving, searching and retrieval of library materials, as well as general clerical duties to support the department.

Reserves

Reserves are materials that professors ask the Libraries to make available for their students to check out or use within the library. These materials may be provided by the professor or requested from the Libraries.  A large percentage of reserve materials are also available through electronic reserves, which allow students to access essential course materials without having to come to the library. E-reserves are available in the Reading List in Canvas. Physical reserves are available behind the Circulation Desk for a two-hour loan for Undergraduates or four-hour loan for Graduate students.   

Rutgers Delivery Service (RDS) and Resource Sharing

Hourly Employees working in RDS or Resource Sharing will process patron requests from the Libraries catalog or from one of our consortiums. These requested items may be held at the owning library’s Circulation Desk, sent to another library, or shipped to an off-campus site for pick-up.