Youth Program Associate

Employees receive a combination of generous benefits and positive workplace culture not found at other organizations. This includes meaningful work, competitive pay, real work-life balance, generous benefits and opportunities to grow. We want our employees to succeed--not only at work, but as they move through life and its milestones. Learn more at https://www.hennepin.us/employees.

Your future. Made here.
 

The primary duties and responsibilities of this position includes:

• Deliver and evaluate programs, especially for youth; assess needs and interests of young people and align programs that promote teambuilding and cultivate leadership.
• Proactively maintain a welcoming and safe environment by managing patron, especially youth, behavior in the library and working with security staff as necessary to address challenges.
• Collaborate with other staff to coordinate the work of youth employees and volunteers to support programming and service needs.
• Assist with a broad range of requests for information related to readers' advisory, focusing on youth and including adults; explain a variety of routine to complex requirements, policies, and procedures regarding patron accounts and services.
• Assist staff and patrons with routine to complex needs related to the use of library technology and resources, online and downloadable materials, library computers, printers, scanners, photocopiers, and audiovisual equipment.
• Continue to learn about and demonstrate skill in the use of evolving and emerging technology used by patrons, especially youth; may instruct patrons in the use of electronic resources.
• Contribute to managing library spaces, including public meeting rooms; complete building needs/facility work requests as necessary.
• Contribute to collection maintenance; suggest materials for addition to the collection.
• Provide or assist with story times, group tours, and orientation to the library.
• Create and manage displays.
• Perform a variety of patron service and materials handling tasks as needed, including assisting patrons with their accounts, collecting fines and fees, preparing financial and other reports, and processing materials for circulation.

• One of the following:
  • Four or more years of library experience.
  • Two or more years of post-secondary education including 12 or more semester credits in a youth-development field and one or more years of library experience.
  • Bachelor's degree or higher in library and information science, youth-development, or another field related to the position.
• Two or more years of experience mentoring or leading youth in an urban setting.
• Experience creating drop-in programming based on the needs and interests of youth.
• Experience creating a welcoming and safe environment.
• Interest in all forms of literacy and informal learning and its application in the field of youth work.
• Creativity and innovation in applying youth development practices to a library setting.
• Enthusiasm for technology and information literacy and providing a wide range of technology assistance to patrons.
• Ability to:
  • Work with youth from a wide range of backgrounds and socio-economic statuses.
  • Work as part of a team.
  • Organize, plan, implement, and manage several projects simultaneously.
  • Handle the demands of a constantly changing work environment and workload.