Librarian

Position Overview

Mingwan School is a bilingual K–12 non-profit school in Dachan Bay, Shenzhen, co-founded by the Chen Yidan Foundation, Tencent and Shanghai Jingzhi Education Group. In September 2027 the school opens Grade 9 together with a five-day boarding program, and will add a grade each year to become a full high school offering the IB Diploma Programme. The first DP cohort is expected in September 2029, and the school is preparing for IB authorization.

The Secondary Teacher Librarian will build the library’s role in the middle years (Grades 6–9) and the high school (Grades 10–12). This is a teaching position first. The postholder will teach research and information literacy across the secondary grades, plan and teach alongside subject teachers in both Chinese- and English-medium classes, and lead the library’s support for the Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge and academic integrity. They will also develop secondary collections and digital resources, and make the library a working space for students’ independent study, including boarders in the evening.

Mingwan follows the national curriculum through Grade 9 and its library is subject to the standards and oversight of the local education authorities. The postholder will therefore also be responsible for the secondary library’s regulatory compliance, including statistical returns, reports and inspection materials submitted in Chinese to the district and municipal education bureaus. The role calls for native-level Chinese, full professional fluency in English, and working knowledge of the IB Diploma Programme.

The postholder will work in partnership with the school’s Librarian, who leads library services for the primary grades, so that students experience one coherent K–12 program of reading, research and information literacy.

Key Responsibilities

1. Research and Information Literacy Teaching

   • Design and teach a progressive research skills program from Grade 6 to Grade 12, aligned with the research skills of the IB Approaches to Learning and building toward the independent research the Extended Essay requires.

   • Co-plan and co-teach research-based units with subject teachers in both languages, including inquiry projects in the middle years.

   • Teach students to locate, evaluate, synthesize and cite sources in Chinese and English, using Chinese academic databases (e.g. CNKI) as well as English-language databases and open scholarly resources.

   • Teach the critical use of generative AI in research: what these tools can and cannot do, how to check their output against sources, and how to acknowledge their use in line with IB and school policy. Work with the school’s AI and digital learning staff on this strand.

   • Teach media and news literacy, including the evaluation of online information in both language environments.

2. IB Diploma Programme Support

   • Serve as a core member of the Extended Essay team: run research workshops, help students develop and refine research questions, advise supervisors on sources and research process, and support the reflection process.

   • Support Theory of Knowledge, Internal Assessments and other research-based DP tasks with resources and research guidance.

   • Help lead the school’s academic integrity policy and practice: train students and staff in referencing conventions and the ethical use of sources and AI tools, and contribute to policy review.

   • Develop collections for DP Language A (Chinese and English) literature study, including works in translation, and for Language B courses, in consultation with language departments.

   • Contribute library documentation and evidence to the IB authorization process and later programme evaluations.

3. Collection Development and Access (Grades 6–12)

   • Plan and build secondary print and digital collections in Chinese and English across subjects, covering reading levels from developing English readers to near-native academic readers.

   • Support required whole-book reading in the national Chinese curriculum (名著阅读/整本书阅读) and related Zhongkao preparation, working with the Chinese department.

   • Support English reading development with the English department, using reading data (e.g. MAP Reading) to match students with suitable texts.

   • Select, evaluate and manage academic database and e-resource subscriptions, making sure access works reliably from mainland China and that all platforms meet the school’s data policies, including the requirement that student data are not stored on overseas platforms.

   • Manage the secondary library budget in coordination with the Librarian.

4. Regulatory Compliance and Reporting

   • Prepare and submit library statistics, reports and inspection materials in Chinese to the district and municipal education authorities, coordinating with the Librarian on school-wide returns and with the G1–9 Principal’s office.

   • Keep collections, cataloguing and records in line with national standards for school libraries (e.g. the Ministry of Education’s 《中小学图书馆（室）规程》) and with local requirements such as per-student collection levels.

   • Run the school’s review of extracurricular reading materials entering the school under 《中小学生课外读物进校园管理办法》, including the review process, its records, and periodic checks of existing holdings.

   • Procure imported books through approved channels and keep the documentation showing that imported and digital resources comply with Chinese regulations on publications.

   • Prepare the library for government inspections and evaluations.

   • Help IB-trained colleagues understand how Chinese regulatory requirements affect the collection, and explain the library’s role in the IB program to the authorities when required.

5. Reading Culture

   • Promote wide, voluntary reading among adolescents in both languages through book clubs, student-led reviews, author and speaker visits, and reading events.

   • Maintain strong young adult and general nonfiction collections in both languages, alongside academic resources.

6. The Library as a Learning Space

   • Shape the secondary library as a place for quiet study, collaborative work and research, including evening study for boarding students.

   • Work with the Residential Life team to plan library access and study support for boarders. The role includes some scheduled evening hours, with working time adjusted accordingly.

   • Work with University and Careers Counselling to provide resources on universities, courses and careers.

7. Collaboration and Professional Leadership

   • Work with the DP Coordinator, Head of High School, G1–9 Principal, Heads of Department and the Librarian to plan a coherent K–12 library and information literacy program.

   • Lead professional learning for teachers on research instruction, academic integrity and library resources.

   • Communicate with parents about reading, research expectations and academic integrity.

8. Professional Development

   • Complete relevant IB professional development (e.g. Extended Essay and library-related workshops) within the first year if not already completed.

   • Keep current with practice in school librarianship, research instruction and information literacy.

9. Safeguarding and Conduct

   • Adhere strictly to child protection policies, employee conduct guidelines and related policies, including expectations that apply in the boarding setting.

Qualifications and Requirements

• Master’s degree in Library and Information Science, or a recognized teacher-librarian qualification. A teaching qualification is strongly preferred.

• At least three years’ experience as a librarian or teacher librarian in a secondary school. Experience in an IB Diploma Programme school is strongly preferred.

• Working knowledge of the IB Diploma Programme, in particular the Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge and IB academic integrity requirements.

• Knowledge of Chinese regulations and standards for school libraries. Experience preparing reports or inspection materials for education authorities is strongly preferred.

• Direct experience supporting the Extended Essay or equivalent extended research, and teaching academic integrity and referencing.

• Demonstrated ability to plan, teach and assess lessons, and to co-teach with subject specialists.

• Native-level Chinese, including the ability to write formal reports and official correspondence for education authorities.

• Full professional fluency in English, sufficient to teach research skills in English and to support students writing Extended Essays in English.

• Proficiency with library management systems, academic databases and referencing tools.

• Good project management and teamwork skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a Chinese school offering an international program, working within both the national and IB frameworks.

• Experience establishing or expanding a secondary library, or working in a school opening new grades.

• Experience supporting the reading development of multilingual learners.

• Experience as an Extended Essay supervisor or coordinator, or IB examining experience.

• Interest in contributing to boarding and residential life.

• Strong knowledge of young adult literature in both Chinese and English.