extended opening hours at the Bermuda National Library.

And in another move to bolster the library, the Ministry of Education is taking applications for a more senior post, the assistant youth librarian, which has been vacant for more than a year.

Education Minister Milton Scott said the new posts are part of the Progressive Labour Party's election promise of extended opening hours to make the Library more "user friendly''.

Sen. Scott could not give a firm date when the Library would extend its opening hours because of the lengthy vetting process within the civil service.

"We're looking to have extra hours at the Bermuda National Library,'' he said. "As promised we're trying to create a more user-friendly library.'' About the staffing, he added: "We were hoping to have them done sooner, but some things are beyond the Minister's control. We had hoped we would have had them in the first 100 days.'' The successful applicant for the assistant youth librarian post must be a member of the Library Association of the UK or have a Master of Library Science from an accredited US or Canadian university.

Applicants must also have at least three years experience as a librarian and have experience in cataloguing.

They will also be responsible for the supervision of three full-time library assistants in the youth department.

The library assistant posts are for junior positions in the technical services and youth department. The successful applicants will perform such duties as book processing and shelving, filing, and producing cataloguing records.

Library assistants must also assist in class visits and handle public inquiries and as such are expected be pleasant, helpful and patient.

All are subject to evening and weekend work and working in other departments of the library.

One technical services library assistant's post will be responsible for clerical work in maintaining Legal Deposit materials and typing entries for the Bermuda Index of Newspapers.

One youth library assistant post is temporary and could be renewed within civil service rules.

Each library assistant post carries a salary of between $34,723 and $36,569 per year and short-listed applicants must complete a test of basic computer, math, and English skills or have some post secondary education.

The closing date for all applications is Wednesday, June 23.

For several months applications for the head librarian's post have been at the Department of Personnel Services for processing.

The post opened following the departure of former head Grace Rawlins to the Cultural Affairs department of the Ministry of Development and Opportunity earlier this year.

Promise: Sen. Milton Scott