Student Assistants
Did you know? The library is one of the largest employers of student assistants on campus.
Students interested in working in the Z. Smith Reynolds Library must contact Kristen Morgan in the Administrative Office to be referred to the departments that have openings. A description of the student assistant duties for each department is listed below. Apply online.
Circulation
2nd Floor – Reynolds Wing, Circulation Desk
Student assistants working in the Circulation Department are expected to greet library patrons in person and on the telephone; check out materials; check in, arrange and reshelve returned items; respond to requests; search for missing items; take inventory and do shelf reading; work at the exit desk and maintain a secure presence; assist with placing materials on reserve; keep circulation statistics; straighten and clear study areas of used materials; service copiers; assist with closing the library on Friday and Saturday nights. The library is open 24 hours a day, 5 days a week, so students are able to work virtually all hours of the day or night. Positions require a great deal of interaction with people.
Interlibrary Loan
3rd Floor – Reynolds Wing, Room 304
Student assistants in Interlibrary Loan are responsible for helping staff process loan requests with minimal supervision. Must be able to multi-task and follow instructions. Attention to detail, accuracy, legible handwriting, dependability and punctuality are very important. Duties include but not limited to: looking up call numbers, pulling items from stacks, photocopying and scanning or faxing/mailing articles to appropriate library, opening incoming mail and separating borrows from loans, updating in ILLiad, shelving incoming items for patrons to pick up at the Circulation desk, picking up returned items at the Circulation desk, update and package to mail, picking up incoming mail and taking outgoing mail to mailroom, answering phone and taking complete messages when unable to answer questions, routine clean up in work area (i.e. packaging recycling and taking to recycle room, trading out trash cans outside workroom door), notifying supervisor when supplies are running low.
Multimedia & Digital Production
2nd Floor – Wilson Wing, Room 259
Lab Assistant: Responsible for the basic maintenance and operations of the Desktop and Multimedia Labs. This includes, but is not limited to, assisting patrons with logging into machines, basic operations including printing and/or saving files, and basic troubleshooting of common problems. In addition, lab assistants aid with lab maintenance, including replacing toner cartridges and replenishing paper in the lab printers, managing the Pharos print release stations, and updating applications and virus protection files. Lab assistants circulate ITC multimedia equipment to patrons via the Voyager circulation module. Lab assistants also help in class preparation with duties that include copying handouts for various instructional purposes.
Lab Assistants are trained to provide support to patrons with the following technologies: DVD, Laser Disc, and VHS players, digital audio and video production, multimedia related hardware, which includes film and flatbed scanners, CD burners, DVD burners, and headphone amplifiers, as well as all multimedia related software.
NC Baptist Historical Collection & University Archives
6th Floor – Reynolds Wing, Room 601
Students assist in the processing and servicing of rare historical materials and other activities supporting the public, technical, and administrative functions of the department. Tasks include preparing and verifying inventories against physical contents of collections; preparing collections for processing by re-foldering, re-boxing, removing paper clips, staples, and rubber bands. Labeling materials, arranging materials in chronological order; retrieving and shelving collection material; photocopying, filing, and data entry; moving collections, books, supplies, and furniture; answering the telephone, directing calls or visitors and other reference duties as assigned.
Working with rare materials requires special care in handling with essential attention to detail and security.
Preservation
3rd Floor – Reynolds Wing, Room 329
Student assistants in Preservation will be trained to perform simple book repair. This work has a learning curve and takes time to learn. Students interested in working in Preservation should be willing to learn this skill and put in the time needed. Students are also taught to: construct archival boxes and assist in laminating. Students need excellent hand skills or a background in art or craft skills.
Rare Books and Manuscripts
6th Floor – Reynolds Wing, Room 629
Students assist in the daily operations of the department including the following: answer the phone, assist patrons requesting books in the Rare Books Reading Room, monitor Reading Room, check book titles in the online catalog, check book dealers’ catalogs, assist in sorting manuscripts, and enter data into Word and Excel documents for manuscript and gift collections.
Working with rare materials requires special care in handling with essential attention to detail and security.
Reference / Government Documents / Microtext
4th Floor – Wilson Wing, Room 457-B
The main responsibility of student workers in the Reference Department is to assist patrons with research and directional questions. This may include conducting searches in the library catalog and databases, locating and loading microfilm, finding government documents, and helping with printing and photocopying. Other tasks may also be assigned, such as reshelving reference books and current periodicals, and looking up book order titles in the library catalog. Good customer service abilities, a desire to learn new skills and reliability are important characteristics in this position.
Resource Services
2nd Floor – Wilson Wing, Room 270
Resource Services needs students who can complete their weekly hours Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm only since the department is closed evenings and weekends.
Students who can work regularly around 8:30 – 10am are needed especially for mail pickup and delivery within the Z. Smith Reynolds Library. Students who are working from 1:30-4pm will help with afternoon mail delivery.
The two primary aspects of the work entail using computers and lifting and moving books from boxes and wheeled carts. Most of the work is solitary (and headphones may be permitted at times).
Students with an aptitude and interest in learning new computer applications experience the most satisfaction working in this part of the library. Computer use is mostly searching databases using books titles and numbers and data entry, sometimes reviewing and editing of information in the databases.
Resource Services is comprised of Acquisitions, Serials, Cataloging, Binding and Marking, Database/Resource Maintenance and Collection Development. No one student will complete all the duties listed below, the tasks will be divided among approximately 10-15 students.
Students working in these areas help with ordering books, sorting magazines arriving by U.S. mail, opening and unpacking boxes of books, looking up prices, recording payments (including some foreign currency conversions), and labeling books for the shelves (using stamps, barcodes, spine labels, etc.).
Students interested in careers involving lots of details and tracking numbers and information are encouraged to apply.
Starbucks
8th Floor – Reynolds Wing
A Starbucks Coffee Barista:
- Delivers service to all customers by acting with a “customer comes first” attitude.
- Anticipates customer and store needs by constantly evaluating environment and customers for cues.
- Assists customers in the selection and purchase of coffee beverages.
- Maintains customer service area and equipment in a clean and appealing manner.
- Demonstrates “Just Say Yes” behavior when taking care of customer needs.