Head of Barbican & Community Libraries

About Us:

The City of London Corporation is the governing body of the Square Mile dedicated to a vibrant and thriving City, supporting a diverse and sustainable London within a globally successful UK. Could you lead and develop the library service at the City of London to meet the changing needs of these newly redeveloped and growing libraries.

There are three dedicated libraries:

• Barbican Library – A major London library and the City’s largest public library. It has a separate children’s library and contains one of the UK’s biggest and best used public music libraries.
• Shoe Lane Library- This is a popular and well-used library, housed in the Deloitte building in the heart of the business City.

• Artizan Street Library and Community Centre - This is the City’s newest library, located in the east of the city. It has four hireable rooms, and the staff provide a public library, a community centre and frontline housing services to the local community.

The Head of Barbican and Community Libraries will work with internal and external partners, championing the role of each individual library to ensure they provide opportunities for people of all ages to explore, engage and discover. They will actively seek out opportunities for income generation and focus on the health and wellbeing of customers. You would be leading the day-to-day service across our libraries including our digital offering.

The role will involve defining and implementing strategy, staff and service development, and budget management. You will oversee day to day team performance and the drive towards continued service excellence. We are looking for someone with a proven track record of leading individuals and multidisciplinary teams including strategy and project management experience, and who is skilled in leading and managing change across an organisation and continually looking for improvements and innovation. You will have significant experience of library management and delivery.

This is an exciting opportunity to help shape the culture and future of one of the busiest and most popular Library Services in London. We are so much more than just books. Libraries are a place for people to connect through technology, improving health and wellbeing as well as experiencing art and culture.  Libraries are here to make a positive difference in the community.

If you would like to discsuss this role, please contact Judith Finlay (Executive Director of Community and Children’s Services)

Judith.Finlay@cityoflondon.gov.uk

Interview week commencing 16 and Final interviews on 20 October 2023