52100 – Library and public archive technicians
TEER 2Occupations usually requiring a college diploma or apprenticeship of 2 years or more, or supervisory occupations
Lead statement
Library technicians assist users in accessing library resources and describing new acquisitions and conduct reference searches.
Main duties
- Assist library users in accessing books, films, photographs, maps, documents, electronic materials and other library materials
- Catalogue new library acquisitions under the direction of a librarian
- Perform manual and on-line reference searches and make interlibrary loans for users
- Assist librarians in giving tours and providing children's and other specialized library programs.
- Assist in developing inventories, forms and finding aids
- Implement and update classification plans and records scheduling and disposal plans
- Apply standards and policies for storage of records and archival materials
- Codify and classify archival materials
- Put archival materials on microfilm or in databases
- Transfer materials from current to semi-current status or put into permanent storage
- Purge, sort, reduce and sample archives
- Research and retrieve archival materials
- Participate in instructing and assisting users
- Ensure that proper procedures are followed in the use of computerized document management systems.
Employment requirements
- Library technicians usually require completion of a two- to three-year college program in library and information technology.
- Public archive technicians require completion of a college diploma or certificate program in archive and document management technology.
Example job titles
library technician · cataloguing technician · high school librarian · secondary school librarian · elementary school librarian · archival management technician · archive technician · archival assistant · archive assistant
Wages (per hour)
| Province / territory | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | $20.00 | $28.00 | $36.56 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $17.00 | $26.00 | $30.77 |
| Nova Scotia | $19.25 | $24.25 | $30.77 |
| New Brunswick | $19.39 | $24.81 | $34.26 |
| Quebec | $17.00 | $27.94 | $38.46 |
| Ontario | $23.08 | $30.00 | $44.50 |
| Manitoba | $22.00 | $27.00 | $30.22 |
| Saskatchewan | $15.35 | $22.50 | $29.75 |
| Alberta | $19.96 | $28.28 | $38.21 |
| British Columbia | $20.00 | $29.01 | $34.07 |
Source: Job Bank wages, 2025 release (ESDC). Low and high are the 10th and 90th percentiles.
Occupation details: ESDC OaSIS 2025, based on NOC 2021.