Collection Maintenance Specialist

The Office of Secretary of State (OSOS) offers some of the most unique and diverse job opportunities in state government. Its critical responsibilities include ensuring a fair and accurate elections process; connecting Washingtonians through the power of libraries; protecting our important government records; and registering corporations and charities. The Secretary of State also administers vital community programs that inspire giving, document our history, and assist crime survivors in avoiding further abuse.

This independent office under the state Constitution operates from facilities in the Olympia area and statewide.

The OSOS is looking for top-performing employees who embody its core values of integrity, service excellence, visionary leadership, collaboration and teamwork. It is committed to both employee growth and work-life balance. The benefits of working in state government also include potential eligibility for the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Washington State Library connects people to the power of libraries. As Washington's oldest cultural institution, the library's unique and rare collections date back to territorial days. Resources include historical print and digital compilations, collections of state newspapers and maps, state and federal government publications, and the Ask-a-Librarian service.

The library benefits local libraries and their patrons through its consulting services, grants, subsidies, training, and programming. Additionally, the Washington State Library provides services to state prison and state hospital libraries. OSOS also operates the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library (WTBBL) in Seattle, a library for people unable to read standard print.

Collection Maintenance Specialist - Library & Archives Paraprofessional 2 Permanant, Full-Time

This position reports to the Head of Collections and provides customer service to Washington State Library customers through shelving and maintaining collections, staffing customer service points, and retrieving and/or scanning collection items in response to customer requests.

Please note: Interviews for this position will be conducted on an ongoing basis, with first review of applications to begin on February 19th, 2026. It is in the candidate's best interest to apply as soon as possible. The hiring manager reserves the right to fill the position at any time.

• Shelves new and customer-used state and federal publications, journals, print newspapers, northwest, dewey, microfilm, reference, and genealogy collection materials.
• In consultation with collection managers, shifts collections as needed to prevent overcrowding and damage to library materials. Notes and reports condition issues to the appropriate collection head.
• Shelf-reads collections to make sure items are in the correct sequence and arranged properly on the shelves and performs other stacks maintenance tasks.
• Sorts morning acquisitions mail bin and delivers items to appropriate acquisitions staff.
• Under the direction of the newspaper coordinator, discards print newspapers that have been replaced by microfilm.
• Assists with the preparation of newspapers for the ongoing microfilming process.
• In coordination with the serials specialist, maintains Princeton file shelf cards, reflecting any and all changes in format, subscription holdings or publication details.
• Within established procedures, evaluates materials for repair and performs basic repair/mending for collections.

• Staffs the reference desk during regularly scheduled shifts and provides backup coverage; determines best way to answer reference questions by conducting thorough reference interviews; responds to requests received from all customer gateways, including email.
• Conducts research to respond to information requests; utilizes reference resource materials, catalogs, indexes, databases, and legal materials to identify and analyze sources to answer questions.
• Assists customers with use of all the collections, including federal and state publications, general and specialized reference, newspapers and periodicals, databases, and the website.
• Performs basic…