Senior Library Assistant; Prison Library Service

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Feltham Prison is a category C facility; housing adult male prisoners from the age of 18, located within the London Borough of Hounslow. We are recruiting a Senior Library Assistant to support and grow the delivery of the prison library service within the unique environment of Feltham Prison.

This role involves working closely with the Library Manager to deliver a high-quality library service to all prisoners. You will oversee the daily operational management of the library, including staff rota’s and planned visits to the library. Working with various partner organisations within the prison, this role will be vital in ensuring all men have equal access to the library and that the library provides resources and materials that are relevant and of interest to their requirements.

You will be working directly with prisoners to understand their unique library needs and promote a positive reading culture within the prison. Recommending appropriate books and resources that will be of interest to individual needs will be a vital part of this role to ensure the library is providing suitable materials and use of the library increases.

You will be responsible for planning and delivering outreach activities and events to suit the interests of the library users and promote the library at all times. This will involve working closely with library users and partner organisations to discuss events that are of interest to prisoners, those that enhance library use and clubs and activities that enhance personal and educational improvements for prisoners.

This role will often require being on your feet for long periods of time, visiting units to speak to prisoners on a regular basis. You will be expected to adhere to all prison security guidance and attend training as required provided by the prison and the council to ensure your own personal safety.

The Prison Library team at HMP Feltham is dedicated to providing access to the library for all prisoners, through unit and class visits to the library and a comprehensive mobile library service. The library team works closely with partners such as the education provider and the Reducing Reoffending team, to ensure an integrated library service is delivered.

As part of the small library team, you will be working closely with the Library Manager to ensure the library provides essential reading and research materials and engaging outreach to the library users.

Through the unit and class visits, the library aims to promote reading for pleasure and learning, help develop essential…