EPSO/AST/158/26 Librarianship: Field 2 Guide

Librarianship and information science: choose Field 2

Checked 2 November 2026. Field 2 of EPSO/AST/158/26 is an AST 3 assistant competition in librarianship and information science. The EPSO field page shows applications open and 243 successful candidates sought. You may apply for only one of the three fields. The displayed deadline is 11 November 2026 at 12:00 Brussels time; EPSO has announced an extension; the amendment giving the new date is due to be published on 9 November 2026.

Check the librarian eligibility route

Section 3.3.2 of the notice gives two education-and-experience routes: a diploma from at least two years of post-secondary study in an accepted area followed by at least three years of relevant experience, or a secondary diploma giving access to post-secondary study followed by at least six years of relevant experience. Experience is counted after the final decision awarding the qualifying diploma.

The 14 October clarification, updated on 20 October, also recognises a bachelor's degree in any field followed by a diploma in an accepted area that requires a prior bachelor's degree for admission, irrespective of that later programme's duration. The three relevant years must follow that later diploma. The Selection Board decides eligibility from the exact qualifications, dates, duties and evidence.

The accepted qualification areas are librarianship; information science or studies; information management; documentation science; information systems and computer science; media studies; and book or cultural heritage studies. Relevant experience must correspond to one or more of the library duties in Annex II. The additional data-related experience list for Field 1 does not apply automatically to this field.

Useful technical preparation includes bibliographic metadata and authority records; controlled vocabularies and multilingual discovery; metadata exchange and system interoperability; acquisitions and collection development; electronic holdings, usage reports and licence terms; lending and resource sharing; search strategies; reference interviews; accessible user training; and the verification of emerging tools. MARC, Dublin Core, SKOS, OAI-PMH, KBART and COUNTER are supporting standards chosen for their connection to these duties, not an EPSO-mandated reading list.

Map the 12 Annex II duties

Annex II describes library operations and user services. Organise the 12 duties into four blocks:

• Collections: acquisitions, withdrawal and collection development.
• Discovery: cataloguing, authority control, controlled vocabularies, bibliographic searching and research guides.
• Systems and rights: library-platform administration and electronic-resource licence management.
• Services: lending, interlibrary loans, reference triage, outreach, training and service innovation.

Editorial checklist of Annex II duties: These short labels help you check every numbered duty in the official notice. They are summaries, not the notice’s exact wording or a confirmed field-test syllabus.

1. Acquisitions and withdrawal
2. Cataloguing and authority control
3. Bibliographic search assistance
4. Library platform administration
5. Lending and interlibrary loans
6. Collection development
7. Service outreach and training
8. Research guides and reviews
9. Reference triage
10. Electronic-resource licences
11. Library-service innovation
12. Controlled vocabularies

These are typical duties, not an EPSO reading list. If a technical standard is relevant to your study, obtain it from its official publisher and record why it supports a named duty. Do not treat a standard as a confirmed field-MCQ topic without an EPSO source.

Two worked decisions

Case 1: a new electronic resource. Staff request remote access to an online collection. Check the licence's user group, access method, permitted uses and renewal terms before activating it. Record the terms in the library platform and explain any limits to users. This links acquisition, electronic-resource licences and service communication.

Case 2: duplicate author names. A search returns two apparently separate records for one author. Verify the source records and controlled name form, update authority links and test discovery before merging anything. Preserve the evidence for the correction. This exercises cataloguing, authority control and bibliographic search support.

Official sources: EPSO Field 2 page, Notice C/2026/4963 and education clarification.

Application, languages and the announced extension

Official information checked 2 November 2026. EPSO still displays 11 November 2026 at 12:00, Brussels time, as the application deadline. Its education clarification announces an extension and says the amendment giving the new date will be published in the Official Journal on 9 November 2026. That is the announced publication date, not the replacement application deadline. Recheck the official field page and the amendment before acting. The currently published identity-document deadline is also 11 November 2026 at 12:00; the other supporting documents are due on 11 March 2027 at 12:00, Brussels time. Check whether the amendment changes either requirement.

You must meet the eligibility conditions by the applicable closing date: EU nationality and full citizen rights, compliance with military-service obligations where applicable, the standards of moral character required for the duties concerned, the education and experience route for your field, and two different official EU languages. Language 1 requires at least C1 and language 2 at least B2 in each ability requested in the application. Apply to one field only.

Use an EU Login linked to an email address you can keep throughout the selection. Complete and check the My CV section before submission: a snapshot is attached to the application when you submit. Check the candidate account at least every three calendar days and follow each invitation's deadlines. Applications cannot be changed after the applicable application deadline.

EPSO's 29 October portal announcement introduces profile, CV and application improvements from 2 November. If you already submitted, reopening, updating and resubmitting before the application deadline is optional. Your existing application remains valid if you leave it unchanged. If you edit a submitted application, complete the resubmission process and check its status.

Build a document file before the deadline

• Identity: upload the required valid identity card or passport by the applicable deadline.
• Qualification: retain the diploma, certificate or accepted statement of award. For a qualification issued outside the EU, obtain the required equivalency statement from a competent Member State authority. UK diplomas awarded by 31 December 2020 are accepted without equivalence; UK awards from 1 January 2021 require it. Annex III of the notice gives country examples; the name of a diploma alone does not show that its content covers an accepted area of study.
• Programme duration: the notice requires institution-issued evidence of the standard duration of the programme used for the post-secondary route. Request a letter, certificate or equivalent document showing that duration. For the post-bachelor specialist-diploma route, read the announced clarification alongside the forthcoming amendment; do not infer that duration evidence is waived.
• Employment: collect documents covering dates, nature and level of the work and a detailed description of duties. The general rules specify contracts and/or first and last payslips, bearing the employer's official letterhead and stamp, and the name and signature of the person in charge. Job title alone is insufficient to demonstrate relevant work.
• Self-employment: use invoices, orders or other official documents establishing the nature and period of the services. Match each period to the duties or other accepted activities for your field.
• Experience calculation: normal work must be genuine, effective and remunerated, subject to the exceptions in Annex I. Record the qualification award date, work dates, weekly hours and relevant-task proportion. Part-time work counts pro rata. Under Annex I, more than 75% relevant tasks counts at 100%; more than 50% up to 75% counts at 75%; 25% to 50% counts at 50%; below 25% does not count. Consult its specific rules for traineeships, voluntary work, doctoral study, parental leave and military service before including them.

The Selection Board checks the application against the supporting evidence. Missing documents can make qualifications or experience ineligible. Request evidence early and follow EPSO's document-upload instructions on the competition pages. The notice and its amendments govern any exceptional case.

The five tests and what each score does

The EUFTE assesses written communication. EPSO supplies the EU documentation before the test and provides it again with the assignment during the test. It is neither a factual EU-knowledge test nor a language test. This notice does not announce a separate EU-knowledge or digital-skills MCQ. Use the EUFTE guide for a writing method.

From test scores to the reserve list

1. Complete every required test. Missing or not completing a test normally ends participation; consult the notice's rules for circumstances beyond your control.
2. Reasoning is scored first for candidates who completed all tests. Both reasoning pass requirements must be met.
3. The field MCQ is scored for candidates who pass reasoning. Candidates reaching 15/30 are ranked by field score. Passing 15/30 alone does not secure a place.
4. EUFTE scoring and eligibility checks proceed in parallel for the highest-ranked candidates. In principle, that group is no larger than 1.5 times the number of successful candidates sought, with the Selection Board able to increase it for equal scores.
5. Eligible candidates who pass every threshold enter the relevant reserve list in field-score order until its target is reached or the qualifying pool is exhausted. Everyone tied for the last place is included. The published names are listed alphabetically.

EPSO communicates results at the end of the competition, subject to the notice's processing rules. Inclusion on a reserve list does not guarantee recruitment. Institutions may subsequently shortlist candidates for recruitment interviews; these are separate from EPSO's competition tests.

Prepare for remote testing

The notice provides for remotely proctored tests. EPSO announces test dates and operational details in the competition page and invitation; do not treat an estimated date as confirmed. Complete every technical prerequisite check by its deadline.

• Read the current EPSO technical requirements and clean-desk policy. Current TAO guidance uses Proctorio, a compatible desktop or laptop and browser, camera, microphone and the necessary installation permissions. A work-managed computer may prevent installation.
• Practise with the official sample tests. Prepare for on-screen tools and the permitted environment. The current policy permits a single screen and an identity document, and prohibits writing materials, notes, phones, headphones and other people in the room.
• Use the exact instructions in your invitation for technical incidents. Report testing problems immediately through the channel specified in your invitation. Also contact EPSO through your candidate account within three calendar days, counting from and including the day after your test. Describe the problem in detail and attach evidence of your attempts to resolve it. This EPSO notification is required even if the test provider has already followed up. Do not wait until results arrive to report a testing failure.
• If a disability or medical condition affects testing, indicate it in the application and follow EPSO's reasonable-accommodation procedure, with the supporting evidence it requests.

Choose a practical study order

Check eligibility and collect documents first. Establish a safe reasoning pass margin, then spend most technical study time on your chosen field because that score ranks candidates. Study and practise in language 2, including professional terminology. Schedule short EUFTE exercises and a technical setup rehearsal. Review errors by concept rather than memorising answer positions.

EPSOHQ's field-knowledge questions are original preparation material mapped to the typical duties and cited technical sources. They are distinct from the introductory Annex II duty-familiarisation drills. Neither the questions nor the study topics are an official EPSO question bank or a published detailed EPSO syllabus. The AST158 training hub shows the available language-specific banks and links to all three field guides.

Controlling sources: Notice C/2026/4963, especially Sections 3–5 and Annex I; education clarification; candidate-portal update; and EPSO testing guidance. EPSO lists a Swedish-only corrigendum dated 16 October 2026; candidates using that language should read the corrected notice.