2024 Sastavickas Scholarship:

The deadline for applications for the 2024 Sastavickas Scholarship has passed. The winner will be announced at the June meeting of the Board of Library Trustees, Wednesday, June 12.

Open Position: Circulation Assistant (Req# 2024-018)

Hours: FLSA Non-Exempt, 35 hours per week, union position
Salary: Grade 2, FY24 range $24.30/hr. - $28.17/hr. plus excellent benefits
The purpose of this position is to perform responsible work in providing circulation desk coverage and assistance; ensure that library patrons receive positive, efficient, and pleasant service; all other related work as required. The Circulation Assistant is responsible for maintaining and improving upon the efficiency and effectiveness of all areas under their direction and control.

Essential Job Functions:

• Assists in the operations of the Borrower Services AKA Circulation Department, under the direction of the Head of Borrower Services. Regularly in charge of public service at the Circulation Desk.
• Performs circulation responsibilities according to approved procedures.
• Coordination and communication of library procedures within the Minuteman Library Network. Attends network meetings as required.
• Communicates library policies.
• Maintains an accurate patron database with associated information and status records.
• Completes library patron registration in Minuteman Library Network database.
• Maintains paper records as necessary.
• Assists in periodical receipt, control, storage, and discard using manual and automated systems. Assists in database management, organizing and updating subscriptions including business and legal services. Updates public listing of library periodicals. Keeps newspapers organized and current.
• Assists in local and network patron requests received through automated network, telephone, and in person.
• Reliable attendance and punctuality is required.
• Performs similar or related work as required, directed or as situation dictates.

Minimum Qualifications:

• High School diploma required. Associates degree or higher education is preferred.
• Excellent public relations skills, customer service and technology skills.
• Knowledge of standard office procedures, practices, forms, and equipment.
• Familiarity with automated library systems and related applications.
• Ability to communicate effectively with people of all ages, including children, young adults, caregivers, and seniors.
• Excellent ability to communicate orally and in writing in English required. Proficiencies in other languages strongly preferred, especially Spanish, other Indo-European languages, and Asian and Pacific Island languages.

*This posting is not meant to be exhaustive of all duties and requirements. View the complete job description.

Contact:

Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter to jobs@norwoodma.gov.
Priority will be given to candidates who apply by Thursday, June 6, 2024.
Please reference Req. #2024-018 on all materials.
The Town of Norwood is an equal opportunity employer. M/F/D/V and does not discriminate based on race, creed, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital or veteran status, sexual preference or any other legally protected status.

2023 Viola Sastavickas Scholarship Awarded to: Raceja Velavan

Raceja (center) is pictured with Library Director, Clayton Cheever; Joanne Rabbitt, Page Supervisor and acting head of Borrower Services; Donna Montgomery, 2023-2024 Chair of the Board; and Kate Tigue, Head of Children’s Services and Chapter Chair of the AFSCME Library Unit at the Morrill Memorial Library.

Joseph and Viola Sastavickas and their children used the library for many years. In the last years before Viola’s death they received service in their home from the Homebound Deliveries Department of the library. When Mrs. Sastavickas passed away in 2006, her children made a generous donation to the library to endow a perpetual $500 scholarship in memory of their mother. Additional familial support has raised the annual scholarship to $1,000. According to her daughter, Kathy Sastavickas, the scholarship is “a fitting tribute to our beautiful mother and to the library and staff which treated her with great respect and affection.”

This year a committee reviewed the applications submitted and selected Raceja Velavan to receive the Viola Sastavickas Scholarship for its seventeenth year. This committee included the 2022-2023 Chairman of the Library Board of Trustees, Marguerite Cummings; the Chapter Chair of the AFSCME Library Unit, Kate Tigue; and Library Director, Clayton Cheever.

Director Cheever noted, “Raceja is a dedicated scholar who is destined for greatness. Her passion, motivation, and skill at working well with everyone she encounters make her stand out amongst her peers.” In the fall she will be starting her third of seven years of studies at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) in Boston. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Premedical Health Studies—Medicine Pathway and is aiming to earn a combined Bachelor of Science in Premedical Health Studies from MCPHS and a Doctor of Medicine (MD) from St. George’s University (SGU) School of Medicine in Grenada.

This scholarship will help offset the expenses Raceja will incur in her academic journey. As an employee at the Morrill Memorial Library, Raceja has proved herself an invaluable team member, always reliable, and eager to take on new challenges. Her first volunteer opportunity was at the library when she was in middle school and helped in the children’s department. She returned to the library in the summer before her second year in college and credits the library with helping her develop her self-confidence, communication skills, and ability to work well with members of the public. After immigrating to the United States from India when she was in middle school, Raceja has already accomplished so much. Her colleagues report always being delighted when they have an opportunity to work with her and the entire library staff agree that the healthcare field is going to be very lucky to have her once she graduates in a few years. Clayton Cheever enthusiastically supported her, “Raceja is a perfect candidate for this award and will put it to great use in her studies.”