Wisconsin Library Services Employment

Whatis WiLS?
We are the Interlibrary Loan Lending office for the University of Wisconsin-Madison libraries. What does that mean? Basically, when a college, university, or business wants to borrow a book or get an article that UW-Madison owns, they send us a request for the item, we go to the campus library that owns it, check out the book or copy/scan the article and send it to the requesting library. We receive over 120,000 requests each year; 600+ requests each day in the height of the semester! Our goal is to fill these requests as accurately and quickly as possible.

What would I be doing?
That depends on your schedule, how many hours you want to work, and the current openings that we have available. All of the jobs revolve around interlibrary loan. The majority of the positions are Runners - students who "run" to each of the campus libraries to retrieve the material that has been asked for. You may be responsible for one library or five libraries depending on your schedule. We also have students who search the catalog to make sure we own what has been asked for, processors who double check for accuracy and update the computer, shippers who send the stuff out, scanners who send articles electronically, and students who deal with all of the returned materials. We employ an average of 30 students a semester.

What's involved in working for WiLS?
We require our students to work a minimum of two hours per day Monday through Friday. There are no evening or weekend hours. You need to work between 7:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. — not necessarily at the same time everyday.

Why should I work there?
The pay is not bad (minimum of $7.60/hour), the hours are flexible, you do not have to work nights or weekends, it looks great on a resume, and we often have food in the office!

What does WiLS look for in a student employee?
Your schedule. A sense of humor is always good! Responsibility and reliability are key. Someone who can work independently. Someone who thinks photocopying is fun :)

How do I apply?
That's the easy part! Just fill out our Online Application form. Someone will contact you afterwards to set up an interview or to let you know we're booked for the semester.

More Questions?
Contact us at wilsill@wils.wisc.edu or 608-263-4981.