Positive Action schemes
Ringfenced for people from communities under-represented in the sector (highlighted with 3 coloured dots)
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Literature Directorate Assistant
Deadline: 30/01/2022 17:00
Salary: £18,000
Location: Preferably based in the North of England (the Merseyside area in particular) – working remotely from home but with the requirement to visit The Reader in Liverpool a few times throughout the year
Start date: March 2022
Are books an important part of your day-to-day life? Love reading and would love to join an organisation that wants to make literature accessible to everyone?
The Reader is a national charity and Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation that wants to bring about a Reading Revolution, so that everyone can experience and enjoy great literature, which they believe helps humans live well. Through a growing movement of 1,000 volunteers and partners, they bring over 4,000 people together weekly to share and discuss great novels, plays and poems. They call this Shared Reading.
They are searching for an Intern to join their team for one year. You will be based in the Literature Directorate at The Reader, working across the Publications and Teaching & Learning Teams in the role of Literature Directorate Assistant. You will be integral to the Publications Team - helping the team to source great literature to be used in Shared Reading groups across the organisation and to create publications that promote the work of The Reader to a wider audience, such as their magazine and podcast.
What you will learn
- Assisting the Publications team in the production of The Reader magazine, The Reader podcast, their in-house literature anthologies and other resources for Shared Reading – research, typing, reading, communicating with subscribers, contributors & publishers
- Assisting the Publications team in making a diverse range of literature available to The Reader’s network of staff & volunteers running Shared Reading groups – become familiar with range and extent of the resources created by Publications for Shared Reading, answering queries, liaising with other departments to help meet needs of staff and volunteers
- Assisting the Publications team in creating and sustaining partnerships with publishers, booksellers and others in the book industry to promote The Reader’s work, as well as accessing books and literature for the purposes of Shared Reading
- Read widely through ‘The Reader Bookshelf’ to familiarise yourself with the literature on the Bookshelf and be able to add to it
- Assist with finding, suggesting and adding literature to The Reader’s online catalogue of literature for Shared Reading, as well as updating and improving the information in existing entries
- Take part in The Reader’s Read to Lead training course and look for opportunities subsequently to take part in Shared Reading groups. Once you have gained enough experience, you would assist the Teaching & Learning team in running staff and volunteer Shared Reading groups
Knowledge, skills, experience
Essential
- To be a strong, passionate reader (One of their values in “We Read to Lead: ‘great literature is in our DNA, developing imagination, deepening understanding and expanding experience. Reading is also about the kind of attention and understanding we give to our actions, other people and the wider world’. They want candidates to feel that this value resonates with them)
- To have good written and verbal communication skills
- Willingness to learn and develop
Desirable
- The successful applicant will be someone who connects with books on a personal level, who has found books or poems to be a powerful tool for expressing something about themselves or the world around them. They will be someone who reads for pleasure and reads widely, beyond the bounds of an academic course or reading list
- The applicant should be able to write with confidence and be able to express themselves fully in writing, and take pleasure in doing so
To apply
- Log in to your Creative Access account or register today to apply for this opportunity
- Upload your CV and cover letter as one document (applications without a tailored cover letter will not be accepted)
- As part of your application, please submit a 500-word personal statement about your reading life. You can use the following questions as a guide:
- Which books mean the most to you, or have shaped you?
- Which books have taught you something?
- Which books have you loved most?
- What are you reading at the moment?
- Are there writers or books you’re keen to discover?
- Once submitted, you can no longer amend your application, so proof-read carefully
- Do not contact the company directly
- Please email any queries about this role to Creative Access at this address: recruit@creativeaccess.org.uk
This internship is part-funded by the Mo Siewcharran Memorial Fund, set up by John Seaton in memory of his wife, Mo, the former Marketing & Communications Director at Neilsen Books.
This opportunity is open to applicants from a group that is under-represented in the creative industries. This includes, but is not limited to, Black, Asian and ethnically diverse candidates, people with disabilities and individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
The successful candidate for this opportunity will also participate in a Creative Access support programme for the duration of the placement or first year of contract that sits alongside workplace training. This includes a programme of induction training, monthly masterclasses, wellbeing support, buddying and more.
We welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the creative industries.
Please make sure that you state in your application that you found this role via Creative Access.
Level of experience
- Entry
Salary range
- Less than £20,000 per year
Eligibility and Positive Action Schemes
What is a Positive Action Scheme?
A Positive Action Scheme, sometimes referred to as Affirmative Action, is a strategic initiative under the Equality Act 2010 which allows organisations to provide training opportunities to certain groups of the population as long as they can prove that:
- The opportunity is a training role and not a job
- That it is targeting a group of the population proven to be under-represented in the sector. For our opportunities, this is usually under-representation in terms of ethnicity, disability, or socio-economic background. Please note, this will be specified on each opportunity.
What is a third-party vacancy?
Third-party vacancies are roles advertised on the Creative Access website where candidates apply directly to the company that is recruiting. These opportunities are typically open to anyone and everyone to apply.
If you apply for a third-party vacancy, you will be updated on the status of your application from the company directly. In most situations Creative Access cannot provide application support for these roles.
How do you define the term ‘ethnically diverse’?
Creative Access follows the UK Government guidelines about what constitutes an ethnic minority. Follow this link for details on guidelines.
How do you define the term ‘lower socio-economic status’ ?
The categories we use to define socio-economic status are based on the Office for National Statistics guide, plus guidance from Arts Council England. . We ask candidates to register for Creative Access and self-declare a number of factors including eligibility for Free School Meals, accommodation type and whether or not you were the first person in your family to attend university.
How do you define the term disabled?
Under the Equality Act 2010, a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.