How to hire a digital librarian

How to hire a digital librarian, step by step

Here's a step-by-step digital librarian hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a digital librarian job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new digital librarian
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a digital librarian do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your digital librarian job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a digital librarian for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A digital librarian's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, digital librarians from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of digital librarian salaries for various roles:

   Type of Digital Librarian	Description	Hourly rate
   Digital Librarian	Librarians help people find information and conduct research for personal and professional use. Their job duties may change based on the type of library they work in, such as public, school, and medical libraries.	$19-39
   Library Technician	A library technician is responsible for sorting books and other catalogs to their appropriate shelf for easy and accurate searching. Library technicians manage and monitor the materials borrowed from the facility, keeping a record of the borrower's information and updating details on the library's database... Show more	$13-23
   Youth Services Librarian	Youth services librarians are people who plan and conduct the library's programs and services for children. The librarians execute their tasks under the supervision of a library director... Show more	$16-34

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Metadata
   • Digital Collections
   • Digital Assets
   • Digital Content
   • Technical Support
   • SharePoint
   • WordPress
   • CSS
   • Collection Development
   • Library Website
   • HTML
   • Libguides
   • Cataloging
   • XML

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage and customize Sharepoint sites, design Sharepoint forms and workflows.
   • Manage document delivery via Docline and consortia memberships.
   • Manage integrated library system including OPAC, serials control, cataloging and acquisitions.
   • Edit various XML and MARC metadata standards.
   • Customize various web design templates using HTML, CSS, Javascript, and XSLT.
   • Load PDF and XML files.

   More digital librarian duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your digital librarian job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A digital librarian can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, digital librarians' average salary in arkansas is 43% less than in washington.
   • Seniority. Entry-level digital librarians 51% less than senior-level digital librarians.
   • Certifications. A digital librarian with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a digital librarian's salary.

   Average digital librarian salary

   $57,957yearly

   $27.86 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level digital librarian salary

   $40,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 20, 2025

   Average digital librarian salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$77,987	$37
   2	Washington	$75,505	$36
   3	Pennsylvania	$71,167	$34
   4	New Jersey	$71,111	$34
   5	Connecticut	$70,686	$34
   6	New York	$70,326	$34
   7	District of Columbia	$66,514	$32
   8	Virginia	$66,393	$32
   9	Michigan	$65,704	$32
   10	Minnesota	$64,829	$31
   11	Maryland	$64,360	$31
   12	Massachusetts	$63,812	$31
   13	North Dakota	$62,982	$30
   14	Illinois	$58,382	$28
   15	North Carolina	$56,119	$27
   16	Iowa	$52,361	$25
   17	Colorado	$51,034	$25
   18	Missouri	$50,683	$24
   19	Indiana	$50,002	$24
   20	Tennessee	$48,928	$24

   Average digital librarian salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Yale University	$83,764	$40.27	3
   2	Boston College	$78,381	$37.68
   3	UMiami Health System	$75,172	$36.14
   4	Mathematica	$71,037	$34.15
   5	Touro College	$68,412	$32.89	2
   6	San Francisco University High School	$68,210	$32.79
   7	University Of Minnesota Physicians	$67,579	$32.49
   8	CTG	$65,192	$31.34
   9	University of Baltimore	$65,071	$31.28
   10	Berklee College of Music	$64,813	$31.16
   11	Accenture	$64,288	$30.91	43
   12	University of North Dakota	$63,450	$30.50
   13	The University of Texas at El Paso	$62,149	$29.88
   14	University of Illinois Springfield	$61,706	$29.67
   15	Sheridan School District	$61,024	$29.34
   16	WMSN FOX 47 News, Madison	$60,703	$29.18	15
   17	University of Iowa Center for Advancement	$60,642	$29.15	1
   18	Leggett & Platt	$60,189	$28.94
   19	United States Courts	$60,040	$28.87
   20	Binghamton University	$59,596	$28.65

4. Writing a digital librarian job description

   A digital librarian job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a digital librarian job description:

   Digital librarian job description example

   Feld Entertainment is the worldwide leader in producing and presenting live touring family entertainment experiences that bring people together and uplift the human spirit. Properties include Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Monster Jam , Monster Energy Supercross, Disney On Ice, Marvel Universe LIVE!, Sesame Street Live!, Jurassic World Live Tour, Kawasaki and Spin Master. Across the brand portfolio, Feld Entertainment has entertained millions of families in more than 75 countries and on six continents. Visit feldentertainment.com for more information.
   
   Successful candidates must be fully vaccinated or be qualified for a medical or religious exemption. Proof of vaccination is required and may be submitted via the Company's secure website. Florida employees may request exemption pursuant to FL House Bill No. 1-B. Fully vaccinated is defined as 14 days after the second dose of a two dose vaccine or 14 days after the single dose of a one dose vaccine.
   
   Please note that all Mitigation Guidelines for touring employees remain in effect as do any applicable venue, local, state, and/or international requirements, rules, regulations, and/or laws in territories outside of Florida.)
   
   Assistant Digital Asset Librarians at Feld are responsible for acquiring, ingesting, and helping to catalogue, manage and protect all digital assets throughout each of the company's intellectual properties. Utilizing the Digital Asset Management (DAM) system, Assistant Digital Asset Librarians serve as asset stewards of all assets and content within the system. In essence, they collect our company's assets in one place, organizing and rendering media searchable and ready for use by various teams and asset creators.
   
   Assistant Digital Asset Librarians must be skilled in a variety of technical, analytical, and personal arenas. Besides being comfortable working with metadata, taxonomy, digital rights, search facets, and web-publishing processes.
   
   Essential FunctionsFile and stream ingestion from various internal and external sources (streams, external SSDs, etc.).Efficient naming, storage, and maintenance of the usage rights policies for the assets.Management and monitoring of the access and use of digital assets, ensuring consistency, compliance, and copyrights.Promotion and optimization of the use of assets.Governance, research, guidance, enforcement, and participation in tool improvements. Maintain consistent and accurate modeling.Enforce accurate, descriptive, and consistent nomenclature.Occasional travel to provide on-site support and media managing at high-priority events.Efforts and projects as directed by management.
   
   QualificationsBachelor's degree or documented experience in a related field such as Library Sciences, Marketing.Experience with content management and digitization for both photo and video.Strong verbal and written communication skills.Certification in Digital Asset Management preferred.
   
   Skills & AbilitiesExtreme high attention to detail and nuance.High productivity drive to constantly improve our cataloging.Problem solver who loves unique challenges.Unafraid of high-volume asset management.Correctly apply meaningful metadata tags to assets according to a consistent methodology.Easily takes direction from superiors.Working knowledge of editing tools such as Adobe's Creative Suite.
   Feld Entertainment is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and a Drug Free Workplace. We are committed to providing an inclusive environment for our employees, customers, and partners worldwide. We celebrate diversity and encourage our profoundly talented workforce to express themselves proudly. Our successful business model requires different perspectives and voices so that we can create the incredible live shows we put on. Come join us and help us light up the world.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right digital librarian for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your digital librarian job on Zippia to find and recruit digital librarian candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit digital librarians, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new digital librarian

   Once you have selected a candidate for the digital librarian position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new digital librarian. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a digital librarian?