Graduate Trainee Library Assistant - The Warburg Institute

Employment type: Fixed Term - 12 Months

The University of London is a leading UK provider of distance and digital education internationally, offering programmes to 45,000 students in 190 countries around the world. Although proudly rooted in London, our community and impact are global.

We are a national leader in the humanities, and we promote their value to society and the economy through knowledge creation and exchange.

The Warburg Institute

The Warburg Institute is the premier institute in the world for the study of cultural history and the role of images in culture. Research at the Institute is cross-disciplinary and global: it is concerned with the survival and transmission of cultural forms across national borders and from the earliest times to the present.

Its library holds some 380,000 volumes, stored on open shelves and structured according to Aby Warburg’s own unique scheme: it is the world’s largest collection of its kind and includes a large proportion of continental books and journals unavailable elsewhere in the UK.

Since 1944, the Warburg Institute has been part of the University of London, one of the oldest and largest universities in the UK—and its most diverse. The Institute is a founding member of the University’s School of Advanced Study, a cluster of internationally renowned institutes that form the UK's national centre for the promotion and facilitation of research in the humanities.

The Role

The Warburg Institute Library is appointing two Graduate Library Trainees for September 2025 – September 2026. These posts are designed for graduates carrying out a year of work experience and training prior to attending library school.

The trainees are based in the Reading Room but work with everyone in the Library’s team of ten, and alongside the Warburg Archive and Photographic Collection teams. They are given training and experience in a broad range of library tasks. This enables the position holders to gain specific experience and skills, and also to develop an overall understanding of the work of a busy research library. The daily work is varied and will include tasks such as working at the enquiries desk, overseeing Inter Library Loans, assisting with conservation procedures, updating the Warburg Digital Library, contributing to the Institute’s social media feeds, and devising and researching book displays.

The Library Trainees work under the direction of the Deputy Librarian.

A staff development programme is available for the trainees, along with other Graduate Library Trainees in the University of London and beyond.

Further information

To be considered for this opportunity, please submit your application and CV (by clicking ‘Apply’ at the top of this page) before the closing date at midnight on 31 January 2025. 

The University will be unable to sponsor candidates for a visa for this role. Successful applicants must be able to demonstrate their right to work in the UK for the duration of their employment.

The University of London is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive working environment where we can all be ourselves and succeed. We particularly encourage applications from members of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic communities as this group is currently under-represented at all levels within the University. All appointments will be made on merit, based on the criteria identified in the job description. 

Pursuing excellence in education and equal opportunities.

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