News

POSITION: Children’s Librarian Assistant, 21 hours per week for 8 weeks

CLOSING DATE: May 11, 2018

LOCATION: Charlotte Hall, Leonardtown, and Lexington Park branches

HOURS: Weekdays, some evenings, and Saturdays

START DATE: June 4, 2018

SALARY: $9.25 per hour

REQUISITES:

• Ability to work with young children
• 18 years or older, with an interest in careers that involve Early Childhood and Early Literacy
• Knowledge of alphabetical order and decimal system order
• Good interpersonal and communication skills
• Ability to understand and follow oral instructions and simple written instructions
• Good physical strength and stamina: Work requires physical effort in the handling of materials or boxes in non-strenuous work positions up to 30 pounds and/or continual standing or walking of 75%+ of the time

DUTIES INCLUDE:

• Work with young children in the library and during programs
• Assist librarians during story-times and programs
• Develop early literacy activities and hand-outs
• May retrieve materials for staff and customers

HOW TO APPLY:
See full job description and apply online now.

St. Mary’s County Library is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
Law requires all applicants to show proof of identity and right to work in U.S.

POSITION: Page, Part-time, 12 hours per week

CLOSING DATE: April 23, 2018

LOCATION: Charlotte Hall Library

HOURS: Must be able to work Tuesday/Thursday and 2 other shifts beginning after 12 p.m.

SALARY: $9.25 per hour

REQUISITES:

• Knowledge of alphabetical order and decimal system order
• Ability to understand and follow oral instructions and simple written instructions
• Ability to learn and apply established procedures in shelving of materials
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
• Excellent customer service skills
• Good physical strength and stamina: Work requires physical effort in the handling of materials or boxes in non-strenuous work positions up to 30 pounds and/or continual standing or walking of 75%+ of the time

DUTIES INCLUDE:

• Sort and shelve library materials
• Maintain order of collection
• May retrieve materials for staff and customers

HOW TO APPLY:
See full job description and apply online now.

St. Mary’s County Library is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
Law requires all applicants to show proof of identity and right to work in U.S.

POSITION: Circulation Assistant I, Part-time 21 hours a week

CLOSING DATE: April 7, 2018

LOCATION: Leonardtown Library

HOURS: Monday 9-12, Wednesday 9-5, Thursday 12-8, Friday 1-5, Saturday Rotation

SALARY: $14.99 per hour, enrollment in MD State Retirement System

REQUISITES:

• High School Diploma or G.E.D.
• Six (6) months or more of customer service experience.
• Basic knowledge of electronic resources, including the Internet and database information retrieval.
• Ability to gain working knowledge of St. Mary’s County Library policies, practices, and procedures.
• Ability to act as a representative of the library to the public.
• Ability to gain working knowledge of the principles and practices of the Circulation Department.
• Ability to learn to operate relevant computer systems, including hardware and software, and office and retail equipment.
• Ability to keep accurate records.
• Excellent math and language skills.
• Excellent customer service skills.
• Good physical strength and stamina: Work requires physical effort in the handling of materials or boxes in non-strenuous work positions up to 30 pounds and/or continual standing or walking of 90%+ of the time.

DUTIES INCLUDE:

• Performs circulation desk procedures; such as, checking materials in and out, check hold lists, conduct financial transactions, answers the phone.
• Special projects as assigned.

HOW TO APPLY:
See full job description and apply online now.

St. Mary’s County Library is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
Law requires all applicants to show proof of identity and right to work in U.S.

The Friends of the St. Mary’s County Library are happy to present the State of the St. Mary’s County Library event on Wednesday, April 4 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Lexington Park Library.

The public is invited to learn about all that the St. Mary’s County Library has to offer, current projects and upcoming opportunities. This event is free and open to the public! Hors d’oeuvres will be served and registration is requested.

“This event is a great way to share all the developments that are happening at the library. Everything from new types of youth services programming through increased materials, and planning for our new Leonardtown Library, we’ve got so many exciting things going on,” said Michael Blackwell, Director of St. Mary’s County Library.

“The library is vital part of the community with many great county partners,” explained Carolyn Guy, President of St. Mary’s County Library Board of Trustees. “We are eager to tell the story of our many successes and the impact we have in the community.”

“The Friends of St. Mary’s County Library are delighted to sponsor this event,” said Trish Parkinson, President of the Friends. “We are always happy to help the county residents learn more about the library’s many activities.”

The St. Mary’s County Library and the St. Mary’s County Department of Social Services are excited to announce the opening of a Free Library at the Lexington Park office of the St. Mary’s County Department of Social Services. A Free Library is a “take a book, leave a book” free book exchange. Anyone may take a book from the Free Library, or bring a book to leave for someone else to read.

The St. Mary’s County Library has set up the Free Library in the lobby of the St. Mary’s County Department of Social Services. Books are available for a variety of ages from small children all the way up to adults. Anyone visiting the Department of Social Services is welcome to read while waiting and take the book or magazine home. The purpose of a Free Library is to help get books into the hands of all individuals in our community, while also sharing good books and bringing our community together.

“Partnering with the Department of Social Services creates a great opportunity to promote reading,” says Michael Blackwell, Director of St Mary’s County Library. “People of all ages visit, and parents sometimes have their children with them. We’ll provide a variety of informative and entertaining materials that clients may read there or take with them. Parents will be able to practice reading skills with their children on site or have fun books to share with their children at home. We hope and expect the free library will get heavy use. The library is delighted to foster literacy in every way it can.”

“Knowing how reading helps to set a foundation for a child to be successful in school and in life, we are excited to enhance our partnership with the Library through the Little Free Libraries program” said Therese Wolf, Acting Director of St. Mary’s County Department of Social Services.

Books will be provided by the Friends of the St. Mary’s County Library. To donate to the Free Library, please bring your books and/or magazines to the Leonardtown branch of the St. Mary’s County Library during open hours and place books in the Friends of the St. Mary’s County Library room.

A mobile hotspot pilot project with grant funding kicks off this month at St. Mary’s County Library. This project provides free portable WiFi units for a checkout period of two weeks. Mobile hotspots are portable WiFi units that can be checked out of the library and taken to a customer’s home. They do require network coverage from the service provider network in order to provide WiFi connectivity.

According to Sara Stephenson, Virtual Service Coordinator at St. Mary’s County Library, the purpose of the project is to aid students and job seekers who don’t have internet access in their homes and help bridge the digital divide in Southern Maryland. “Students often need access to the internet to complete assignments online, but they don’t always have that access available at home,” said Stephenson. According to Stephenson, it is also important that public libraries help everyone have access to and use of information and communication technologies, regardless of their economic and social standing.

St. Mary’s County Library, in a partnership with Calvert Library, Charles County Public Library and the Southern Maryland Regional Library, received a grant from the Maryland State Library and the Library Services and Technology Act through the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The grant allowed each county to purchase mobile hotspots and data plans. Each of the devices will is filtered to comply with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA).

The hotspots work in locations with Verizon wireless internet coverage. “We are really committed to making internet accessible to as many people as possible,” said Stephenson, “and that means we have to use the provider that reaches the most remote parts of our county. Although we’re not able to guarantee coverage everywhere, we chose providers that have the greatest level of coverage in each county.”

Library customers who are 16 years of age or older can check out a mobile hotspot, but it will not automatically renew. There are no overdue fines, though data will be unavailable on overdue devices and there is a $100 replacement fee for damaged or lost devices. Due to the provider of service, a daily and checkout period data limit is imposed on hotspot checkouts.

The future of the mobile hotspot program will depend on the program success, ongoing funds and customer feedback. After six-months, the feedback (captured in customer surveys) will be analyzed and a decision will then be made about the future.

For more information about checking out hotspots, please see our Check Out a Hotspot page!