About the Library
The London Library is one of the UK’s greatest literary institutions, providing a centre of creativity, inspiration and ideas for 180 years.
Well-known members and frequent borrowers have included Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, George Eliot, Bram Stoker, Rebecca West, Virginia Woolf, Angela Carter, Daphne du Maurier, HG Wells, TS Eliot, Stanley Kubrick and Ian Fleming. Current writers in membership include Kazuo Ishiguro, Raymond Antrobus, Simon Schama, Hallie Rubenhold, Tom Stoppard, Antonia Fraser, Jessie Burton and Sarah Waters. Nearly all of its collection of around one million books can be borrowed, it offers a vast eLibrary and invaluable postal loans service.
The Library is a registered charity and championed by its President, Helena Bonham Carter CBE. It is a home for everyone who loves the written word.
Staff benefits
Pension
The Library operates a Group Personal Pension Scheme. Details may be seen at the Library. Eligibility to join and entitlement to benefits is subject to the rules of the scheme.
Life Assurance
The Library operates a Group Life Assurance Scheme, which in the event of death whilst employed by the Library, will pay out a lump sum of 4x annual salary to the employee’s nominated beneficiaries.
Cash Health scheme
All employees will be enrolled into our cash health scheme which allows members to reclaim the cost of medical expenses such as dental fees and prescription charges as well as access to a 24-hour employee assistance service.
Season tickets and bicycle loans
Interest-free loans for the purchase of season-tickets and/or bicycles for travelling to and from work.
Access to collections
The facility to make full borrowing use of the Library’s collections (up to 10 books at a time) and online resources.
Book purchase and binding
Staff may purchase books for themselves, taking advantage of the discounts negotiated by the Library. Discounts on binding personal books may also be arranged.
Training & Development
The Library is committed to the support and development of all staff. We aim to ensure that all members of staff not only have the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to be successful in their jobs, but also to fulfil their career potential.
Hybrid Working
Where practicable and subject to line management agreement, we are able to provide flexible working options.
Library employees whose role can be performed effectively without having to attend the Library on every working day will be able to discuss a hybrid work plan with their line manager.
Rest facilities
Staffroom with small kitchen and dining area offering free tea and coffee-making facilities.
Equal Opportunities Statement
The London Library is committed to providing equal opportunities to all current and prospective employees regardless of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.
We aspire to have a diverse workforce because and believe that a more inclusive workplace, where people of different backgrounds work together, ensures better outcomes for all staff and our organisation.
In particular, we strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join The London Library.
We will take positive steps to ensure that our employees, stakeholders, contractors and clients can enjoy an experience that is fair, equitable and free from discrimination in their dealings with us.
Finance Assistant
Contract: fixed-term to March 2023
Salary: from £24,760 - £28,887 per annum (incl LW) plus benefits
Hours: 35 hours per week, but a part-time arrangement may be considered
Ref: LL/21/08
The London Library is an internationally important centre of creativity with an outstanding collection of books and resources. We are a registered charity dedicated to the advancement of education, learning and knowledge and are looking to recruit an experienced Finance Assistant to support the day-to-day processing and recording of library transactions.
Join us and you will enjoy a varied role ensuring prompt banking of cheques and other donations, accurate input of purchase and sales ledger data to our accounting system and CRM and maintaining a logical audit trail for all transactions. You will also be responsible for updating and maintaining finance records and systems, preparing invoices for payment, ensuring timely banking of cheques and other donations and much more. This role is integral to the smooth running of the Finance department, with responsibility for providing a comprehensive and efficient service for The Library. Important will be the ability to follow procedures, work accurately and deliver to deadlines.
Ideally working towards a finance qualification, you will be a proficient user of accounting software, preferably Sage 200. You will have an eye for detail and possess good communication, interpersonal and PC skills too. Good at prioritising your workload, you will work well as part of a team and independently when needed.
If you have the desire to build a career in finance, we would be delighted to hear from you.
TO APPLY
Please complete an application form including the Library's equal opportunities monitoring form - available below - and email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Candidate Information Pack (including job description)
Application Form (Word version)
Application Form (Rich Text Format version)
CLOSING DATE: Monday 13 December 2021 (by 5pm) but may be closed earlier depending on response
INTERVIEWS: dates tbc - Please note interviews may be conducted online.
The Library welcomes applications from all sections of the community. All applicants will be considered on the basis of their merits and abilities for the post. Please note we are unable to consider candidates without a current right to work in the UK.
Undocumented Online Event Video
Kamila Shamsie speaks to authors Nikita Lalwani and Abi Daré about their stunning new novels, telling the stories we never hear about the people we never see.
Lalwani’s, You People, is set in a London pizzeria staffed by illegal Sri Lankan immigrants and presided over by the mysterious Tuli, a resident Robin Hood, who promises to help anyone in need.
Daré’s The Girl with the Louding Voice is the story of Adunni, a young Nigerian woman sold into domestic servitude but determined to find her voice.
Asking difficult moral questions, these novels cast their light on the people who live in the shadows: the asylum seekers and illegal immigrants, the enslaved, the disenfranchised and the undocumented, who silently and thanklessly underpin economies and maintain lifestyles from London to Lagos and everywhere in between.
Director of Finance & Resources
Contract: permanent
Salary: c£70k per annum (incl LW) plus benefits
Hours: 35 hours per week
The London Library is the largest independent lending library in the world and one of the UK’s leading literary institutions. It opened in 1841 and immediately became a resource not just for enthusiastic readers but for writers of all kinds, including some of the most celebrated names of their day - Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Virginia Woolf - to name but a few! It remains a vital source of inspiration and support for the writers of today and tomorrow.
We are looking for a driven and proactive Director for Finance and Resources to deliver effective leadership across the Library.
The Director of Finance and Resources is responsible for the management of the Library’s Finance, HR, IT and Building & Facilities functions and will play a key role in the Library’s future success. You will provide sound management and administration of the Library’s financial affairs while planning and implementing the changes needed to reflect its new strategic priorities. As a member of the Executive team, you will work closely with senior staff and Trustees (especially the Treasurer), and deal at senior level with external contacts such as auditors, bankers, investment managers and other professional advisers, as well as leaseholders and tenants. You will also act as Secretary to the Trustees of the Library and to the Trustees of its Staff Superannuation Fund.
The successful candidate will be CCAB qualified and be able to demonstrate:
- Proven experience in a leadership role within a charity or membership organisation;
- Ability to work in collaboration with Trustees and colleagues;
- Understanding and experience of strategic risk management, finance audit and internal controls
This is an exciting time to join The London Library as we continue to implement our long term strategic plans. In short, we want to become much more widely known and used and to share our incredible collection and all the other benefits of the Library membership with as many people as possible. This will be crucial in enabling us to establish a sustainable operating model for the Library and ensure that the Library continues to inspire and support many future generations of readers, writers and thinkers. The Director of Finance and Resources will have a vital part to play in developing and leading the implementation of the initiatives that will deliver these goals.
The London Library is an exceptional and much-loved place. If you are excited by the challenge of leading the development of the world’s largest independent lending library, and one of the UK’s foremost literary institutions, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Further information and applications are invited through Allen Lane
Deadline for applications: Monday 25 October (by 9.00 am)
Give one million books and much more this Christmas
Membership of The London Library is the perfect Christmas gift for students, researchers, readers and writers! Members can browse and borrow from our unique collection of over one million books on 17 miles of open shelves; including history, literature, art, and much more, plus access thousands of periodals, newspapers and magazines. They also have access to extensive online resources, including JSTOR, which can be used from anywhere in the world.
The library is a magical place with five dedicated reading rooms plus individual hidden in the book stacks of our atmospheric building.
All membership types may all be given as gifts and during the Christmas period they will include a London Library bag and postcard for your gift message and will be wrapped with a Christmas ribbon.
Make Christmas special with gift membership to The London Library.
Members of The London Library have access to:
- Beautiful and practical spaces in which to read and write, open six days a week with late night openings;
- An incredible collection of 1 million books, with 6,000 more being added every year, almost all of which are available to browse on open shelves and borrow;
- Subscriptions to thousands of journals and periodicals and a wide range of digital resources;
- Invitations to special events and discounts on our popular public speaker events;
- Expert staff, always on hand to assist with enquiries;
- A postal loans service anywhere within Europe.
View all of the benefits of membership.
Help them start their new year with everything they need to read, write and think.
