Senior Librarian

Salary : $87,651.20 - $106,620.80 Annually
Location : Carlsbad, CA
Job Type: Full-Time
Job Number: 20260708
Department: Library & Cultural Arts
Opening Date: 07/15/2026
Closing Date: 8/12/2026 5:00 PM Pacific


The Position
The Community
The City of Carlsbad is ideally situated in north San Diego County where a great climate, beautiful beaches and lagoons, and abundant natural open space combine with world-class resorts, family attractions, well planned neighborhoods, excellent schools, and a charming village atmosphere to create the ideal California experience. Covering nearly 40 square miles, the City of Carlsbad is currently home to about 115,000 residents. Thanks to an award-winning growth management plan, the city's infrastructure and services keep pace with development and promote an excellent quality of life.


The Library
The Library &Cultural Arts Department provides educational, informational, and cultural arts services for all community residents, which contributes to a high quality of life by supporting lifelong learning, the pursuit of knowledge, and creating community gathering places. The Library & Cultural Arts Department operates three public facilities that include the Carlsbad City Library, the Georgina Cole Library and the Library Learning Center, along with presenting public art in various formats throughout the community. The Carlsbad City Library is also home to the Ruby G. Schulman Auditorium and the Cannon Art Gallery which support a variety of visual and performing arts programs, arts education and cultural arts services.


The Position

We are recruiting for two openings for the position of Senior Librarian of Public Services. For reference, the City of Carlsbad's Senior Librarian position is comparable to the responsibilities of a Librarian III with the County and City of San Diego. Under general direction, Senior Librarians perform complex work in planning, coordinating, and supervising a variety of library service programs; supervise the work of library employees; and do related work as assigned.

Ideal candidates will be able to demonstrate that they can set clear expectations for performance, communication, accountability and service; are adept at handling challenging customer service interactions; can represent others' perspectives accurately, and can demonstrate their ability to problem-solve creatively and responsibly.

Reporting Relationships

Position reports to the Deputy Library Director or to a Principal Librarian.

You Belong in Carlsbad
The City of Carlsbad embraces and recognizes the vital relationship of an inclusive, engaged work environment and innovative excellence. An equitable and inclusive work climate comprises personal experiences, values, and views shaped from differences of culture and circumstance. Our organization appreciates belonging, creativity, recognition and retention of its employees and is committed to hiring and developing motivated, productive and talented employees who provide services and enhance our quality of life. We work to embrace open and equitable access to opportunities for learning and development as our responsibility and goal.

Key Responsibilities


Responsibilities may vary based on assignment. Senior Librarians may be assigned to collection development, technical services, public services, or other library service areas based on operational needs. The current vacancies are in Public Services, and the duties described below are representative of those assignments. For a full list of responsibilities for this job classification, please see the and the class specification

Assists patrons in the use of the Library and ensures top quality user experiences.
Plans, manages and administers professional library services.
Recruits, selects, schedules and trains full time professional librarians, para-professional librarians, hourly employees and volunteers. May approve timecards.
Supervises the work of staff engaged in providing various library services. May provide input into disciplinary matters.
Promotes libraries, library services and library programs.
Manages programming; schedules, plans and publicizes programs and events.
Maintains an active role in the community, including schools, community groups, civic and other governmental agencies to promote library and city services.
Manages the budgeting for a program, functional or specialized area or division.
Prepares reports based on the collection and analysis of relevant data for library activity.
Participates and contributes to library projects.
Leads and participates on committees and teams.
Responds to challenging situations and emergencies.
Schedules, attends and/or presents training and education seminars, workshops and classes, for library-and city-related skills.
May represent the service area or the library at meetings of library, city, community and professional associations.
Pursues continued professional and Library-wide development.
Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities are located in the attached KSA matrix.

Experience & Education
An equivalent combination of the education and experience listed below:
- A Masters of Library Science or a Masters of Library and Information Systems from an American Library Association Accredited library school.


-Three years of professional library work experience is required to qualify for the Senior Librarian level, including a minimum of two years of prior library supervisory experience.

• Medical Insurance
• Dental Insurance
• Vision Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account
• Life Insurance
• Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance
• Retirement under the CalPERS program, 2% @ 62 formula, Classic Members (those who are enrolled in CalPERS at another local agency) have the 2% @ 60 formula
• Bilingual Pay
• Holidays - 11 scheduled
• Floating Holiday- 2
• Paid vacation
• Computer purchase loan
• Tuition reimbursement

A detailed list of our benefits can be found here:
Additional CalPERS information can be found here:
01


Initial in the box below that you acknowledge "see application" and "see resume" are not valid responses to the questions below.
02


What is your highest level of education?

• Associate's Degree
• Bachelor's Degree
• Master's Degree or Higher
• None of the above

03


How many years of professional library work experience do you have in a supervisory capacity?

• None
• Less than 1 year
• 1 - 2 years
• 2 or more years

04


Please limit to 300 words or less: Describe your supervisory experience and include number of staff managed and for how long. What surprised you the most about transitioning from front-line service to supervisor? If you do not possess this experience, indicate N/A.
05


Please limit to 300 words or less: Tell us about a programming, service-delivery, or problem-solving moment at work that demonstrates your creativity.
Required Question