Article by 
Duane Herendeen, Children's Department Supervisor
Warsaw Community Public Library

As we gear up for the upcoming Summer Reading Program, it’s amazing how quickly projects tend to pile up that we try to do on a daily basis. As the library faces staff cutbacks like other businesses and organizations do, we find ourselves more and more in need of community volunteers who are willing to donate their time to help serve the community. In the children’s department, we welcome volunteers who are willing and eager to work side by side with librarians in making sure families can have access to the materials they desire.

In years past we would have preteen and teen volunteers help us with our Summer Reading Program, but I’m happy to say that we now have a group of teens who donate their time to our department all year long. The minimum age for volunteering is 11 years old and we’ve got some great volunteers who help us with LEGO Club, making up book carts, working on reading levels, creating book lists and more.

If you have a teen who enjoys being organized, maybe they’d prefer shelf reading, that’s librarian talk for making sure the books are in the correct order on the shelves. If they enjoy being on the computer, they can help us create book lists, tag reading levels, or help us weed books.

We encourage our teen volunteers to suggest other areas they would like to help us with because not all teens enjoy spending time doing the same thing. Donating time to their local library gives them a sense of accomplishment and involvement. We also keep track of the number of hours donated which can be used on college applications and resumes.

Adults can also donate their time to the library. Anyone over the age of 18 must fill out a background check and then once approved, we will find projects that we desperately need help with. We’re always in need of adult volunteers on book sale days so if you enjoy meeting people and being surrounded by books, then it’s for you.

If visual media is your thing, check to see if we need help cleaning DVDs or CDs. Your local library is a community resource that is powered by the community, so when you volunteer, you’re not only helping us, but you’re helping everyone. The library can always use a volunteer!