Work experience

Update 28/07/2026: we are currently at full capacity regarding our work experience opportunities and have a sizeable waiting list of 13 people wanting to spend time with us. We are currently only able to accommodate 1 work experience student per term, so we will be pausing the waiting list for the time being. Those already on our waiting list will be contacted when the time comes, but it may be Sep-Dec 2030 before we are able to reach the last person on this list.

If you are in our queue and receive an email from us, we will ask you to fill in our work experience form, link below:

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=hIAL_x72KUK2yOMTC8HJ-mRixwUSQKBPhUAz6YxrwO9URTZIVFkyWU9LQk1ZU1gwMVUyS0dOVlZCSy4u

The following will hopefully help to understand what we can and what we cannot offer.

Questions for you:

Are you keen to understand how a research library works?
Are you interested in gaining work experience at a specialist library for philosophy and theology in London (Mayfair)?
Do you enjoy being organised, seeking information, and finding answers to problems?

We could be the place for you to gain valuable insights into librarianship and information work!

More information about the Heythrop Library:

The Heythrop Library has over 200,000 volumes, of which 8,000+ are in its reading room in Mayfair, with 130,000 in an off-site store in West London, and ca. 70,000-80,000 volumes in Winsford (Cheshire). Over 800 rare books are in Oxford. We have over 300 serials subscriptions, of which 180 are live journal holdings.

Who can approach us?

We offer work experience opportunities for people aged 16 and over.

When could I get work experience with you?

The library is normally open during school and university holidays, including half-terms.

Work experience can – in theory – normally be arranged throughout most of the calendar year, but we currently have a waiting list.

What we can offer?

For those without any prior experience of working in a library, we can offer experience in:

Reading room management (issuing and returning books, enquiry work, creating new membership cards).
Managing collections (including labelling, book moves, checking holdings of donations and transferred books).
Searching a library catalogue.
Using the Koha library management system.
Managing journals and serials (check-in, processing, claiming).
Promoting our modern collections and services via our Blog, BlueSky and LinkedIn.
Assisting us in developing collections (creating subject-specific lists of new acquisitions).
Shadowing the library team members and seeing their normal work.
Providing various library statistics.
Small project work.

For those with some or significant experience

If you are either studying towards a library or information studies degree, or with ample practical work experience, we also offer:

Cataloguing of modern books (AACR2 and RDA).
Rare books or pre-1900 cataloguing.
Classmarking of books.
Insights into systems admin for Koha.

Whilst we try to tailor the work experience placement to your needs, and create a timetable, some of the above might not be possible for short-term work experience arrangements.

We cannot offer:

Eresources management
Paid work experience

Financial assistance:

We also offer to reimburse travel costs (within London, and with receipts) for the days you spend with us.

Your commitment:

We are relatively flexible on your preferences for y/our time commitment, as long as this is clear for you and us. Initially we ask to have a chat with you, this can be in person or via an online call. Then we will arrange for 1 day were you and we can “test the waters”, which might be followed by one of the following patterns of gaining work experience:

5 days spent consecutively for 1 week.
2-3 days per week, for 2 weeks.
1 day per week, for 5 weeks.

Our commitment to you:

We will discuss what you want to gain from spending time with us, and we will come up with a proposal, including training and shadowing.

Interested?

The best way to register your interest is to fill in our work experience form at the following link: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=hIAL_x72KUK2yOMTC8HJ-mRixwUSQKBPhUAz6YxrwO9URTZIVFkyWU9LQk1ZU1gwMVUyS0dOVlZCSy4u

You can also email us at heythroplibrary@jesuit.org.uk with your CV (if you have one) and a short statement, telling us what you would like to get out of spending time with us, including preferences for time commitment.

If you’re a school student, please provide the name and contact details of one teacher who knows you, and whom we can contact.

Need more info?

Please check out:

Want to hear from previous work placement students?

There are a number of blog post from previous work experience people, see https://heythroplibrary.co.uk/tag/work-experience/. You can also read some of Anna’s reflections below!

‘I learnt so much here in a short time, and fully recommend the experience to anyone at the beginning (or further on!) in their librarianship journey. The team was immediately welcoming to me, and alleviated any nerves I might have had! […]

There was a thorough and engaging timetable, so I was never lost or without something to busy myself with, and I really appreciated the time and thought that had gone into preparing a bespoke experience for my learning needs.

After a thorough and friendly introduction, […] I did some cataloguing, and checked in and processed journals and serials.

I gained experience in promoting collections […], and I set to a collection management project of checking holdings of a book move.

I engaged in Reading Room Management, issuing and returning books, and I gained experience with the Sierra library management system, as well as investigating library statistics. […]

I would 100% recommend this experience to anybody who wants to gain librarianship skills in a supportive, educational and unique environment.

Anna, June 2023, Librarianship MA, University of Sheffield