What an excellent post by Jo. So what are my own experiences of volunteers and volunteering?
Very much like Jo, after finishing my library qualification I found it hard to find employment. Jobs just didn't seem to exist. I'm possibly also guilty of trying to get my thesis finished and passing, that job applications were the last things on my mind!
A friend of mine worked for BAe (British Aerospace) in Bristol at the time and managed to secure me work experience (voluntary work) in their information centre. I'd never worked in a special library and haven't worked in once since. However, I consider it a valuable experience. I loved the chance to deal with really complex in depth queries, sometimes working with confidential information. It was a very interesting place to work too. At the time they were building the wings for what is now the Airbus A380, all I'll say it, they certainly didn't call it the A380 then, it had just a slightly different codename!!
I'd love the chance to do this sort of work again, but due to my experience since, I think it would take quite a bit of persuasion, not to mention self-promotion to get the job I want in that sector. (Not to self: check Thing 21 again!)
I volunteered years ago to organise the music in my church choir library. I loved that, starting from scratch, but actually knowing I was making the music more accessible in the meantime. I also used to volunteer for the National Trust. Not libraries, but I learned basic budgeting, teamwork and leadership skills, so all in all a positive experience. Certainly in both of these, I felt valued - a great morale booster.
On the other side, I've not had a lot of experience from volunteers. We had a shelver when I worked in a college library, strangely enough, he now volunteers in the public library where I now work. He's been doing this volunteer shelving work for about ten years now, but is very reliable and helpful. Possibly one of the best volunteers you can get. He thrives on the thanks he gets from the library staff.
We also have a lot of volunteer editors for our local history site Herts Memories. We don't see these volunteers much, it's more of an electronic relationship! However, if we organise a local history event, they are often the first to come along to help publicise the sites, or encourage contributions.
If you count work experience as voluntary work, my experience of these has not been so good. Much of the time, they seem to find the work boring... How can work in a library be boring, there's always loads to do??
Currently my authority does not have many volunteers working regularly in the libraries. I know there are authorities which use volunteers on a regular basis and would be interested on how you work with these. What sort of work they do, how often they come in, etc. Plus there's the whole question of training volunteers, how does this get done?
It can certainly be a minefield, the whole volunteering experience, but I personally think it can be a positive experience for all involved.
"What sort of work they do, how often they come in, etc."
ReplyDeleteI can comment on this from a volunteer position at a US public library.
The volunteers fill out an application saying what times they are available and what department they want to work in (children's, adults, local history, etc.). Because the library is part of the county government, even volunteers have to pass a drug and background check (paid for by the county).
Volunteers primarily shelve items. I was taught more than a decade ago, so I don't know how they currently train volunteers. Alternately, a few volunteers may scan papers into a digital repository or copy newspaper articles to go into paper folders. In the local history room, we have some volunteers who go through the newspapers and mark articles that have historical significance to our town. Mostly, though, volunteers shelve items.
Most volunteers have a schedule, but they are free to deviate as they wish. There is a sign-in sheet where they log their hours each time they come in. Some people come in regularly and some come sporadically. One person said, "This is the best job because I can come whenever I want and stay for as long [or short] as I want."
As you see, at this particular library, things are very flexible. I've been at other libraries where volunteers work on specific projects and then the staff are more stressed because they not only have to save work for the volunteers to do, but get stuck picking up the slack if a volunteer doesn't show up (the same goes for student workers).
Hope that gives you some ideas.