Salary £25,949 - £25,989 per annum | 22.5hours per week | Permanent | Part Time | Wymott Prison Library| Leyland, Lancashire
As a prison library assistant, you will work as part of a team including prisoners, who as orderlies will work alongside you to deliver high quality library and information services, enable the delivery of activities and events to the prison community, assist prisoners and staff to access information and resources and encourage use by the prison community. A prison library assistant is a unique, inspiring, customer service role that offers an opportunity to make a difference, it is challenging but rewarding. You will work with library staff, education and reducing and reoffending teams to help prisoners to improve their situation whilst in custody and for future release.
Are you:
1. Able to help, support & engage with prisoners, staff & colleagues
2. Able to work as part of team
3. customer focused
4. confident in using digital resources
5. interested in libraries and the benefit to their prison communities
6. Organised, calm & practical
7. accurate and have good attention to detail?
You will:
8. have demonstrable teamwork skills
9. contribute towards an excellent service for your users
10. have a love for reading and be passionate & proactive about sharing this
11. have excellent communication and digital skills
12. be able to work with a range of partners, volunteers & orderlies
13. be able to deliver a customer focused service in a prison environment
This is a permanent post based at HMP Preston Prison library. HMP Preston Prison is a category B Remand adult male prison. The library is a branch of Lancashire County Council Libraries, and the staff work closely with Lancashire Library staff, other prison library staff, prison staff and partners. The role may require you to work evenings and weekends and at other locations and may also involve lone working. The hours are 28 hours per week and the annual salary quoted will be pro rata. Please use the Prison Library Assistant Person Specification, within the role profile attachment, detailing the criteria you need to include within your application, please note CVs will not be considered.
Why join us?
At Lancashire County Council, you’ll have the opportunity to shape a career path that suits you, with access to personal and professional qualifications, coaching, and mentoring. This is the place to build the career you’ve always wanted.
In return for your passion and expertise, we offer a generous benefits package, including:
14. A competitive salary and access to the Local Government Pension Scheme with generous employer contributions.
15. 26 days of annual leave (rising with length of service), plus 8 bank holidays and 2 additional statutory days. You’ll also have the option to purchase additional leave each year.
16. Access to our staff discount scheme in partnership with Vivup, offering savings with a wide range of UK retailers—from weekly groceries to white goods and vehicles.
How to apply:
Applications must be submitted online via the Lancashire County Council website. If you require any further information about this role, please contact
17. Nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
18. Individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
19. Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements:
If you have been out of the country for a significant period (usually up to one year) and maintained your UK residency you may still be considered for vetting clearance. For example:
20. spent a significant period overseas without returning to the UK, but intend to return in the future
21. taken a gap year before or following university
22. travelled for a year
23. spent time overseas visiting family
This is not an exhaustive list.
Candidates must be able to provide correct and up to date documentation when requested during the application process.
We reserve the right to close a vacancy early, before the closing date, if we receive sufficient applications.