Level 3 (LIAS) Library Assistant Apprenticeship - Heartland's Hospital

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust

Birmingham (B9 5SS)

Closes in 10 days (Wednesday 6 August 2025 at 11:59pm)

Posted on 23 July 2025

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Summary

This role is an 18-month apprenticeship, where the post holder will gain the skills, knowledge and behaviours to become a library assistant gaining a Level 3 Library, Information and Archives qualification. The successful candidate will receive a day a week of dedicated study time to support their learning needs.

• Wage:

  Competitive

  Competitive wage offered

  Check minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)

  £14,762 to £23,875 a year

• Training course: Library, information and archive services assistant (level 3)
• Hours: 37.5 hours per week, flexible working - times to be confirmed.

  37 hours 30 minutes a week

• Start date:

  Thursday 7 August 2025

• Duration:

  1 year 6 months

• Positions available:

  1

Work

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you'll do at work

University Hospitals Birmingham Library and Knowledge Services (LKS) operates over four hospital sites, delivering services to over 22,000 staff and students on placement. The key aims of the LKS are to support evidence-based practice, research, patient care and clinical and managerial decision making. This position is based at the Heartlands Hospital library.

As a Library Apprentice, the post holder will work closely with a team of librarians and library assistants to provide a customer service to our diverse user base.

Key responsibilities:

• Being the first point of contact for library users, answering a range of enquiries and triaging more complex enquiries to the relevant member of the team
• Providing technical assistance to users
• Inducting new users and sharing relevant knowledge of services and resources
• Maintaining both physical and digital resource collections to provide an efficient document supply service
• Recording Literature Search requests onto a shared database, alerting the librarians to new searches and gathering impact when searches are complete
• Supporting the marketing and promotion of library services and resources
• Contributing to service development through active engagement in task and finish groups and team meetings maintaining the library space by shelving, tidying and reporting issues to the relevant departments
• Although the position is based at Heartlands Hospital, occasionally additional cross site working may be required

Where you'll work

Heartlands Hospital
Bordesley Green East, Bordesley Green
Birmingham
B9 5SS

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

Training provider

LET ME PLAY LIMITED

Training course

Library, information and archive services assistant (level 3)

Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)

What you'll learn

Course contents

• Interpret and implement policy, e.g. communicating clearly the basic copyright restrictions and reasons for not sharing personal data
• Undertake regulation and compliance checking, e.g. in order to ensure data protection is not breached
• Solve user problems in a range of situations using their knowledge and interpretation
• Use information management processes to store, manage and retrieve records and data to support collaboration, exploitation and the organisation’s Information Management (IM) practices
• Describe and arrange material/resources, by observing and applying identified cataloguing standards in order to create online catalogues and other finding aids to meet users’ needs
• Employ information retrieval techniques to identify and use relevant media and systems, e.g. searching online databases, catalogues or physical stores, and EDRMS (electronic document record management systems)
• Perform preservation (analogue/physical and digital) practices to keep collections physically safe using institutional/sector guidelines, and supporting work that provides digital access by creating alternatives that meet a range of user requirements
• Use enquiry techniques to clarify and meet users’ information requirements and manage expectations, e.g. by signposting to alternative resources and providing solutions
• Develop knowledge sharing with users, cultivating an environment where knowledge is freely shared and sought within a ‘safe’ environment, including online solutions
• Use relevant approaches to learning support to contribute to the development of learning activities for different audiences to enhance knowledge and literacy, e.g. reader development
• Select and use appropriate tools and technologies to support users in researching and disseminating information, e.g. databases, search engines, digital libraries, repositories and social media
• Develop information and digital skills to support users to identify, find, access and evaluate information, to share knowledge and to promote self-help
• Demonstrate information sharing by contributing to learning activities for specific audiences, e.g. inductions and events, catering to a variety of levels of knowledge and understanding
• Use promotion techniques for resources so that users and potential users are aware of their value, impact and benefit, e.g. by curating collections and displays in effective ways, undertaking outreach activities to guide users to achieve independence in their use of information
• Implement the organisation’s collection management policy, e.g. through identifying stock that should be acquired and that which is no longer used or needed, and relegating or removing these appropriately
• Develop the service by assessing the learning environment and anticipating user needs, e.g. re-organising study/virtual spaces, suggesting improvements to catalogues or web pages
• Use teamwork and collaboration to achieve goals, e.g. with stakeholders and partners beyond the organisation
• Use information provision to enable users to access materials, e.g. through lending books/artefacts, emailing documents, accessing original archives, signposting links to information
• Exercise communication skills - oral, written, presentation, interpersonal, listening, assertiveness (online and face to face)
• Interpret and implement policy, e.g. communicating clearly the basic copyright restrictions and reasons for not sharing personal data
• Undertake regulation and compliance checking, e.g. in order to ensure data protection is not breached
• Solve user problems in a range of situations using their knowledge and interpretation
• Use information management processes to store, manage and retrieve records and data to support collaboration, exploitation and the organisation’s Information Management (IM) practices
• Describe and arrange material/resources, by observing and applying identified cataloguing standards in order to create online catalogues and other finding aids to meet users’ needs
• Employ information retrieval techniques to identify and use relevant media and systems, e.g. searching online databases, catalogues or physical stores, and EDRMS (electronic document record management systems)
• Perform preservation (analogue/physical and digital) practices to keep collections physically safe using institutional/sector guidelines, and supporting work that provides digital access by creating alternatives that meet a range of user requirements
• Use enquiry techniques to clarify and meet users’ information requirements and manage expectations, e.g. by signposting to alternative resources and providing solutions
• Develop knowledge sharing with users, cultivating an environment where knowledge is freely shared and sought within a ‘safe’ environment, including online solutions
• Use relevant approaches to learning support to contribute to the development of learning activities for different audiences to enhance knowledge and literacy, e.g. reader development
• Select and use appropriate tools and technologies to support users in researching and disseminating information, e.g. databases, search engines, digital libraries, repositories and social media
• Develop information and digital skills to support users to identify, find, access and evaluate information, to share knowledge and to promote self-help
• Demonstrate information sharing by contributing to learning activities for specific audiences, e.g. inductions and events, catering to a variety of levels of knowledge and understanding
• Use promotion techniques for resources so that users and potential users are aware of their value, impact and benefit, e.g. by curating collections and displays in effective ways, undertaking outreach activities to guide users to achieve independence in their use of information
• Implement the organisation’s collection management policy, e.g. through identifying stock that should be acquired and that which is no longer used or needed, and relegating or removing these appropriately
• Develop the service by assessing the learning environment and anticipating user needs, e.g. re-organising study/virtual spaces, suggesting improvements to catalogues or web pages
• Use teamwork and collaboration to achieve goals, e.g. with stakeholders and partners beyond the organisation
• Use information provision to enable users to access materials, e.g. through lending books/artefacts, emailing documents, accessing original archives, signposting links to information
• Exercise communication skills - oral, written, presentation, interpersonal, listening, assertiveness (online and face to face)

Training schedule

• You will work towards your Level 3 Library, information and Archives Assistant qualification across a total duration of 18 months
• Training provider: LMP Group: https://lmp-group.co.uk/
• All online/remote learning, no classroom or college day release
• An allocated tutor will support you throughout the apprenticeship

More training information

LIAS Assistants support society through anticipating, determining, stimulating and satisfying the needs of existing and potential users for access to information in an ethical and fair or appropriate manner

• Milestone 1. The Organisation and Wider Sector – (Legislation, Regulations, Online CPD in Health and Safety etc)
• Milestone 2. Information and Knowledge – (Nature and Management of Information)
• Milestone 3. Collections, Storage and Archives – (Storage and Preservation of Archives)
• Milestone 4. Continuous Improvement – (Collaborative tools, Literacy and cultural enrichment, team working, user needs and expectations)
• Milestone 5. Project Management & Planning
• Milestone 6. Prep for End Point Assessment

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

• English (grade 4)
• Maths (grade 4)

Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.

Skills

• Communication skills
• IT skills
• Attention to detail
• Organisation skills
• Problem solving skills
• Administrative skills
• Logical
• Team working
• Initiative

Other requirements

(Permitting you’re eligible for the role) Please expect to receive contact from our LMP Education Recruitment team, to discuss your application further. Additionally, please be aware that upon a successful offer of employment, DBS checks and references will be obtained as part of your enrolment.

About this employer

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust strives to have an inclusive culture where everyone feels like they belong, can thrive, knows that they add value and feels valued. We do this by developing compassionate and culturally competent leaders, being values driven in all that we do and by creating a welcoming and inclusive workplace that thrives on the diversity of our people. As such we want to attract and recruit talented individuals from all backgrounds, and for each of you to feel supported for the diversity you bring, to achieve your full potential. For those staff with a disability, including physical disability, long term health condition, mental health or neurodiverse condition, this also means being committed to making reasonable adjustments needed for you to carry out your role.

After this apprenticeship

Opportunities for progression.

Ask a question

The contact for this apprenticeship is:

LET ME PLAY LIMITED

The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000333282.

Apply now

Closes in 10 days (Wednesday 6 August 2025 at 11:59pm)

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