Law Librarian Library City Attorney's Office (8151)

About the Law Librarian and Library
The Law Librarian serves as a trusted advisor to attorneys and professional staff across all practice areas ensuring seamless access to legal resources while driving the Offices transition toward a modern primarily digital research environment. With responsibility for shaping collections negotiating high-value vendor contracts and guiding research strategy the Librarian plays a critical role in enabling high-quality legal work on behalf of the City.

The library maintains a presence in both San Francisco City Hall and Fox Plaza with a clear mandate to thoughtfully streamline physical collections and expand digital access. This is an opportunity for a librarian who is energized by change technology and the chance to build a best-in-class legal information program.

Law Librarian Responsibilities
The responsibilities below reflect the breadth and impact of this role and may evolve over time.

Strategic Leadership & Collection Development

• Lead the strategic direction of the Offices legal information resources aligning collections with evolving practice needs.
• Develop and manage the annual library budget balancing cost control with high-quality resource access.
• Evaluate resource usage and emerging tools to optimize subscriptions with a strong emphasis on digital transformation.
• Make data-informed recommendations regarding renewals cancellations and new acquisitions.

Operations & Resource Management

• Oversee both digital and physical library collections including ongoing efforts to reduce print and streamline access.
• Manage distribution of materials such as desk copies newsletters and other resources.
• Ensure efficient processing of acquisitions renewals and invoices.

Vendor Relations & Contract Management

• Lead negotiations with legal information vendors securing favorable terms and maximizing value.
• Manage contracts subscriptions renewals and invoicing in coordination with internal stakeholders.

Innovation & Knowledge Management

• Contribute to Office-wide knowledge management initiatives including the evaluation and implementation of emerging technologies such as generative AI tools.
• Identify opportunities to improve access to institutional knowledge and research efficiency.

Training Outreach & Knowledge Sharing

• Design and deliver engaging training programs on legal research tools and best practices (in-person virtual and asynchronous).
• Develop user-friendly guides newsletters and intranet content to promote awareness and effective use of resources.
• Provide onboarding support to new employees ensuring immediate and effective access to research tools.

Legal Research & Advisory Services

• Conduct sophisticated legal and non-legal research in support of attorneys and professional staff.
• Partner with legal teams to develop efficient cost-effective research strategies.
• Serve as a subject matter expert on legal research platforms tools and methodologies.

Qualifications :

Minimum Qualifications

Education

• M.L.S. M.L.I.S. or equivalent degree from an ALA-accredited school

Experience

• One year of experience as a librarian or conducting legal research
  • Legal research experience must include case law statutes regulations with use of major legal databases (e.g. Westlaw Lexis)

Desired Qualifications

• Significant professional experience as a law librarian preferably in a law firm government or similarly fast-paced legal environment.
• Demonstrated expertise in managing legal information resources including vendor relations acquisitions and collection development with a strong understanding of cost control and value optimization.
• Deep familiarity with major legal research platforms (e.g. Westlaw Lexis Bloomberg Law) and a broad range of digital legal and business information resources.
• Proven ability to evaluate and implement emerging technologies that enhance legal research and knowledge management including an interest in and aptitude for tools such as generative AI.
• Experience developing and delivering effective training programs and user education initiatives across a range of formats (in-person virtual and asynchronous).
• Strong strategic thinking skills with the ability to assess organizational needs analyze resource usage and make data-informed recommendations.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to advise attorneys and professional staff clearly confidently and persuasively.
• Demonstrated commitment to collaboration and to fostering an inclusive respectful and service-oriented workplace.
• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail with a track record of managing multiple priorities deadlines and projects with accuracy and efficiency.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively exercising sound judgment and initiative in a dynamic environment.
• Proficiency with library systems and tools (e.g. ILS platforms such as Koha LibGuides) and standard business applications including Microsoft Office and web-based information services.
• A proactive curious approach to professional development including staying current on trends products and best practices in legal research librarianship and knowledge management.

Physical Requirements

• Able to lift boxes up to 25 pounds crouch and reach to reshelve items and push/pull a wheeled cart loaded with books.

Verification

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education verification is required information on how to verify education requirements including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency can be found at  ones education training or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

All work experience education training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your application by the filing deadline. Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed City and County of San Francisco application.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

Selection Procedures

The selection process will include evaluation of applications in relation to minimum requirements. Applicants meeting the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement to the interview. Depending on the number of applicants the Department may establish and implement additional screening mechanisms to comparatively evaluate the qualifications of candidates. If this becomes necessary only those applicants whose qualifications most closely meet the needs of the Department will be invited to participate in the oral/performance interview.

Additional Information :

Salary and Benefits
The Law Librarian position has a 5-step salary scale ranging from $127400 to $154804. The successful applicant is appointed to a salary step based on years of experience and additional relevant degrees certifications credentials or skills.  The City offers robust health retirement and other benefits. For more information please visit: Job class 8151 is represented by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 21. Information about compensation and benefits is available by entering Classification Code 8151 at Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for City and County of San Francisco jobs are only accepted through an online process. Visit  begin the application process.

• Select the Apply Now button and follow instructions on the screen
• Upload a Resume

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment and therefore it is their responsibility to ensure that their registered email address is accurate and kept up-to-date. Also applicants must ensure that email from CCSF is not blocked on their computer by a spam filter. To prevent blocking applicants should set up their email to accept CCSF mail from the following addresses (@ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and @).

Applicants will receive a confirmation email that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

Human Resources Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process please send your inquires to Jumy Dang Senior Human Resources Analyst at

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex race age religion color national origin ancestry physical disability mental disability medical condition (associated with cancer a history of cancer or genetic characteristics) HIV/AIDS status genetic information marital status sexual orientation gender gender identity gender expression military and veteran status or other protected category under the law.

Remote Work :

No

Employment Type :

Full-time