Job Description
School or Department: Libraries and Learning Resources
Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK
Grade/Band: Grade 2
Hourly rate: £13.06 per hour plus holiday entitlement
Casual contract from: 17/09/2025 – 05/12/2025
Advert closing date: 26/08/2025, 23:55pm
Number of positions available: 12
Please note that this vacancy may be taken down early depending on the number of applications received. We advise you to submit your application promptly.
Our offer to you
People are at the heart of what we are and do.
The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.
We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.
The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.
Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham
Background
Library and Learning Resources Services (L&LR) provides several different services to students including study spaces, academic skills support, access to learning resources, and digital tools.
Library Shapers work with L&LR to evaluate, promote and co-create these services to best meet user needs, and thus have a unique opportunity to help make a difference for the student community whilst gaining a wide range of transferrable skills, useful for the CV.
This role does not have fixed hours, but you’ll be expected to be involved in 2 to 3 activities equating to approximately
10hrs per term. Library Shapers will also be required to attend an initial briefing session in mid-September.
Role Summary
This role will help L&LR to improve the delivery of its services through a variety of activities. Library Shapers work as part of a wider group and tasks may involve working both collaboratively and/or independently.In addition, they will work alongside Library staff to develop ideas and evaluate existing services. A member of L&LR will provide support and be a key contact for all work undertaken.
Main Duties
- Supporting open days and welcome week activities
- User testing systems and processes
- Co-creating resources to support students with their skills development
- Support with gathering user opinions and survey data
- Participating in focus groups and User Experience (UX) activities
- Preparing communications for print and social media
- Providing insights for various L&LR working groups, including Green Impact, and Assistive Technology
- Providing feedback and ideas which will be used to inform future library service delivery and provision
Person Specification
- Reflective learners, able to communicate ideas and feedback, both verbally and in writing.
- Self-motivated and able to commit to completing tasks
- Enthusiastic about helping us improve L&LR for all students
- Can work constructively with group members and library staff
- Organised with time management skills
- Able to demonstrate problem solving skills
- Can work constructively with group members and library staff
- No prior library experience is required, we welcome fresh perspectives!
For any informal queries, please contact Claire Browne (c.k.browne @bham.ac.uk
)
View our staff values and behaviours here
Valuing excellence, sustaining investment
We value diversity and inclusion at the University of Birmingham and welcome applications from all sections of the community and are open to discussions around all forms of flexible working.
The University of Birmingham restricts all students to working up to 20 hours per week during term time. If your application is successful and your course does not follow the usual academic term timetable (e.g. PGT, PGR or PhD student), you and your supervisor must formally agree vacation periods if this role exceeds 20 hours per week. In addition to this, please be aware if you are an International student you will be required to apply to the Registry for the appropriate Authorised Absence.
You are only eligible to apply to this role if you are a current University of Birmingham student. If you are not a University of Birmingham student your application will not be considered.
To work you will need to carry out a right to work check.These checks will need to be completed prior to work commencing. 
