Job Description Components
To further assist public libraries in writing job descriptions, these components are typically included:
- Job Summary
- A brief description that summarizes the overall purpose and objectives of the position and the results the employee is expected to accomplish. Some include the amount and the degree of freedom or independence the employee has to act or the name of the position to which a person holding this job reports.
- Essential Functions
- The tasks, duties, and responsibilities of the position that are most important to get the job done; required to comply with ADA.
- Additional or Nonessential Functions
- The desirable but not absolutely necessary aspects of the job and the job duties for which accommodation can reasonably be made.
- Knowledge, Skills, And Abilities
- The specific minimum competencies required for job performance; knowledge is the body of information, such as library science one has acquired: skills include problem solving, communicating orally, and the like; abilities are those personal characteristics an employee has that may be necessary to excel on the job, such as the ability to make decisions or effectively supervise others.
- Supervisory Responsibilities
- (Sometimes included in job descriptions) The scope of the position's authority, including a list of jobs that report to the incumbent. (It may be better to make references to "assigned staff" in lieu of specific position titles, as these would have to be changed every time a structural, staffing, or organizational change takes place.)
- Working Conditions
- The environment in which the job is performed, especially any unique conditions beyond those found in a normal office or library environment; in conjunction with the essential functions, required by the ADA.
- Minimum Qualifications
- Minimum (as well as desired, but you must include the minimum) educational requirements, experience, and licenses required to perform the job.
Singer, Paula M. Developing a Compensation Plan for Your Library, American Library Association, c.2002. Job Description Components, pp. 41-42. Used with permission of the American Library Association.
