LIBRARIAN – INFORMATION AND CULTURE PROFESSIONAL – INTERNSHIP
- Location: Mathare, Nairobi, Kenya
- Direct Supervisor: Head of Teaching and Learning
- Contract: Internship with stipend, potentially leading to a longer term contract
- Compensation: 25-30 KES PCM
Are books a lifelong passion you want to share with others? Do you watch TV shows and movies from around the world? Are you naturally curious about everything and feel the need to research? Do you look forward to organising events and parties? Do you like to keep a space beautiful and well designed? Can you connect with teenagers and light up their passions too?
Still I Rise is an international NGO with a humanitarian mission to provide protection and quality education to refugee and underprivileged youth. Our flagship institution is our International School in Mathare, Nairobi. Here, we are passionately engaged in one of the world’s most ambitious, unique and exciting educational projects: to offer the very highest quality of schooling experience to some of the most disadvantaged children in East Africa.
We now seek an engaged and engaging person who combines energy, a love for a wide range of books and culture, and organisational skills. The role of Information and Cultural Professional at our school is completely unique so please read the range of responsibilities carefully.
RESPONSIBILITIES
You will be responsible for managing and organizing the Still I Rise International School Library, which includes transferring a recent arrival of 3,000 books into both our physical collection and online system. Responsibilities include cataloging and classifying materials, managing check-in and check-out processes, ensuring easy access to and retrieval of books, and assessing the condition of older stock for repairs or replacement. Additionally, the role involves developing practices to maintain book quality, fostering a culture of care among students, coordinating interlibrary loans with the Kenya National Library, collaborating with literacy teachers to monitor reading progress, and liaising with the remote team to update our virtual database. Other administrative duties will also be part of this role.
LIBRARY CURATION
- Provide advice and enthusiasm to get students reading ability-appropriate texts in the languages of operation at our school.
- Keep the library organised, accessible and attractive to all our students.
- Label, categorise and track books.
- Maintain and evolve the school’s procedures on borrowing and purchasing books and resources.
- Recommend new books and resources which our students will love.
CULTURAL PROMOTION
- Spearhead programs to instil a love of reading and writing at our school (for instance, running a Reading Club, coordinating a poetry competition and internally publishing students’ writing efforts).
- Develop and lead activities which excite children about a variety of cultural forms: movies, drama, art, poetry, music, animation etc.
- Put East African cultural expressions in the spotlight.
- Create themed sections of the school’s physical space to promote specific cultural topics (for instance, turning a corner of the library for a month into a celebration of Ethiopian poetry).
- Collaborate with our Head of External Affairs to organise cultural events for the local community.
- Collaborate with our Head of External Affairs to organise partnerships with libraries in Nairobi, in Kenya and abroad.
INFORMATION LEADERSHIP
- Support students to research and organise content from online and offline sources.
- Supervise the usage of the public computers and help students develop basic ICT skills.
- Lead the school’s implementation of our Academic Integrity policy, including coaching anti-plagiarism and bibliographic skills.
- Join the whole Education team’s efforts to instil critical, creative and analytical thinking.
REQUIREMENTS
- A very strong capacity for building organised spaces, processes and habits
- A visible love for all forms of learning
- An infectious passion for reading and culture
- A pride in the richness of East African and African cultural expressions
- Confidence and proficiency in ICT
- Experience in early childhood language teaching is considered an advantage
Candidates are invited to apply sending an email with CV and Cover letter to [email protected] indicating in the object “LIBRARIAN” .
Please kindly note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview. Thank you for your interest in Still I Rise.
Diversity and inclusion are a central part of Still I Rise values at the highest level. As such, it is key to Still I Rise Organisation and staff to show a passion for excellence for bringing about positive change in all the communities we strive to serve. Our commitment to diversity is linked to our mission of providing quality education access to vulnerable youth and children in torn apart and remote areas across the world, which is essential in shaping and creating the organization, serving all people, respectfully, connected to our scope. We recognise that everyone is different and that attracting, developing and retaining our employees will create a sustainable working environment which is essential to our success. We strongly encourage interested candidates from diverse backgrounds to submit their applications.
