Librarian and Deputy Extended Essay Coordinator – August 2025 start

Reports to: IB Coordinator

Key Areas of Responsibility:  Overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Secondary School Library, promoting a culture of reading, supporting teaching and learning across the curriculum, and contributing to the Extended Essay programme.

 The Library at BST

The Secondary School Library is at the heart of the BST community – a welcoming, inclusive, and dynamic space that promotes curiosity, critical thinking, and a love of reading in all its forms. It supports students’ academic development across the curriculum and serves as a hub for research, collaboration, and intellectual exploration. In addition to its role in promoting reading for pleasure and learning, the Library plays a key role in supporting the development of research and information literacy skills throughout the school (KS3-5) and Extended Essay supervision.

The ideal candidate will be a passionate advocate for reading and research, with a strong knowledge of contemporary literature, both fiction and non-fiction, for young people and adults. They will be an outstanding collaborator, able to support students and staff in developing effective research and inquiry skills. They will also have strong organisational and communication skills, with a commitment to excellence in service and innovation in library provision.

Key Areas of Responsibility

Teaching and Learning

• Promote a love of reading across the whole school community, including students, staff and parents.
• Support the delivery of the curriculum through resource curation and collaborative planning with teachers.
• Teach research and information literacy skills, including academic honesty, referencing, and source evaluation.
• Provide guidance and 1:1 support for students undertaking research projects, including the IB Extended Essay, internal assessments, and other inquiry-based work.
• Assist the IBDP EE Coordinator with tracking and monitoring student progress in the Extended Essay.
• Support the development and delivery of reading programmes
• Supervise students using the library during study periods, breaks, and after school.
• Create library lessons and facilitate their delivery, where appropriate.

Library and Resource Management

• Manage the day-to-day operations of the Secondary School Library, including budgeting, ordering, and cataloguing.
• Oversee the physical and digital library collections, including resources in English, Japanese and other languages.
• Maintain the Library Management System and ensure accurate tracking of loans and returns.
• Ensure library resources remain current, relevant and reflective of student interests and curriculum needs.
• Support the integration and promotion of online platforms such as JSTOR, LibGuides etc.
• Provide reference and enquiry services for students and staff.
• Maintain a purposeful and welcoming reading and study environment, with clear expectations for conduct.
• Develop and maintain strong links with Temple University Library and support students’ access to its resources.

Community Engagement and Leadership

• Lead and train a team of student library ambassadors.
• Organise author visits, reading events, competitions and themed weeks to promote literacy.
• Attend and contribute to library network meetings with other international schools.
• Serve as a key member of the school community by contributing to whole-school events and initiatives.
• Deliver CPD and create resources to support colleagues’ use of the library and development of research skills.
• Promote a passion for reading and information literacy amongst the students, staff and parent community of the school.

Additional Duties

• Be a form tutor as part of the House system.
• Run or support extra-curricular or service learning activities.
• Participate in curriculum residential trips as part of the BST Outdoors programme.
• Work on campus from at least mid-August each year in preparation for the school year.
• Undertake any reasonable duties as requested by the Head of Secondary or Senior Leadership Team.

How to Apply

Please see the full job description, and apply via our website directly via the following link: Librarian and EE.

Closing date for applications: April 20th 2025

The British School in Tokyo welcomes applications from suitably skilled applicants from all backgrounds.

This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check or International Child Protection Check, and provision of satisfactory background checks for at least the past 5 years.

Further information about the school is available on the School’s website www.bst.ac.jp 

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