Hot Topics Archive

The Mesa Public Library in Arizona has an amazing online booksale operation. In Fall 2019 we had the opportunity to tour it, and talk to staff and volunteers. Many thanks to Janice Dell, CVA, Mesa's Volunteer Coordinator who welcomed us and shared her materials, and to Jeffrey Stoffer, Mesa's THINKspot Librarian, who created the video.

This 10 minute video will give you an idea about how it works and how you might get started.

Online Book Sale Volunteer Job Description

And a series of 3 parts of their training for the project:

#1: Bookbinding Styles

#2: Parts of a Book

#3: Assessing the Condition of a Book

Five Survey Templates to Measure Volunteer and Board Satisfaction
 

The essential guide to managing volunteers at your nonprofit
 

Beware of these 6 trends lurking in your volunteer program

Volunteer Management: How to Get It Right
 

Archived Webinar

November 20 VolunteerMatch “Tour”
 

New Volunteer Job Descriptions

Creation Station Coordinator – Show Low AZ

Library Assistant – Show Low AZ

Computer Coach – Show Low AZ
 

Also New This Month: New Maker Space Photos

Writing Accurate & Useful Volunteer Position Descriptions - March 2020

Creative and Innovative Recognition Strategies for Today’s Library Volunteers - October 2019

Connecting with Today’s Volunteers to Transform the Friends of the Library - September 2019

Walking the Walk: Engage Library Volunteers in your Volunteer Engagement Program - August 2019

Revitalizing Library Volunteer Engagement - 2018

Successfully Managing Library Volunteer Program Changes - August 2018
 

Walking the Walk: Engage Library Volunteers in Your Volunteer Engagement Program

Do’s & Don’ts of Supervising Library Volunteers

Adult Volunteer Application – Huntington Beach

Volunteer Handbook – Pacific Grove

Beyond Retention: How to get better data to inform your volunteer engagement strategy

Don't Just Recognize Volunteers, Invest in Them . . . and in Yourself

Volunteer Recognition: Matching Motivation to Rewards

When Recognition Hurts Recruitment (and what we might do about it)

Recognizing Online Volunteers and Using the Internet to Honor ALL Volunteers

Skills Based Volunteering ToolKit

Building Capacity Through Volunteer Leadership

Want to Write a Volunteer Program Annual Report? Here’s How to Start

Why Should We Pay Attention to Volunteering Trends

CRM Integration
 

Rethinking Volunteer Recognition

Volunteer Appreciation Guide

Volunteer Recognition: Just Say No to Years of Service Awards

3 Ways to Recognize Volunteers

Recognizing Volunteers in 2017

Celebrate Collective Accomplishments, Not Volunteered Time

Many thanks to these libraries who recently shared materials for us to share with you! Please send us yours in the “Share Your Materials” box below.

Social Media Coordinator Volunteer Job Desc -- Salinas CA

Spanish Language Virtual Document Translator – Salinas CA

List of Volunteer Job Descriptions – Corona CA

Volunteer Guidelines – Austin TX

California's Get Involved Regional Leaders develop networking and training events for library volunteer engagement coordinators in their regions across the state. They decided a tool was needed for library volunteer programs to determine their Return on Investment, and then share that data both internally and externally in the form of an attractive but brief infographic that could also be used as a program's annual report. They developed this ROI worksheet to be used by individual libraries to create the data for the infographic, and included sample infographics.

Feel free to download and use this worksheet for yourself, and if you're interested in using one of the infographics, there are 3 templates with minor variations that can be found for your use here:

Infographic Template #1

Infographic Template #2

Infographic Template #3

And 3 different library examples using the templates here:

Example A

Example B

Example C

Three Things We Know About Engaging Millenials in Your Cause

Millenials and Volunteering: Bridging the Generation Gap

NOTE: Please share your materials - volunteer job descriptions, handbooks, policies & training materials - with us for the Clearinghouse. Just click on "Suggest a Resource."

Position Descriptions

Genealogy Group Facilitator - Texas

Circulation Assistant – Texas

Volunteer Technology Coach – Texas

Training Materials

Shelving with Dewey - Illinois

Recruitment Success Story – Flagstaff, Arizona

Buckeye Arizona Library’s Experience with Get Involved
 

Can We Reject a Volunteer?

You Can’t Fire Me, I’m a Volunteer!

Controlling Complaint Conversations

Three Things We Know About Engaging Millennials in Your Cause

Success with Skills-Based Volunteers

Gaining Staff Buy-In for Volunteer Engagement
 

Liability, Insurance, and Risk Management Issues for Volunteer Programs

Managing Volunteers: Balancing Risk and Reward

Checklist to minimize the most common volunteer risks

Nonprofit Volunteers – Minimizing the Risks 

Volunteer Background Checks: Giving Back Without Giving Up on Privacy

Background Checks – Nonprofit Risk Management Center

October 24th Archived Webinar – Where Do I Go from Here? Engage Volunteers in New Ways

Volunteer Engagement Roles Matrix
 

HandsOn Network Volunteer Leader Guidebook
 

September 2018 WebJunction Webinar: Revitalizing Library Volunteer Engagement

50 Project Ideas for Skilled Volunteers

Demographic Trends Shaping America and Service
 

August 22, 2018 archived webinar: Successfully Managing Library Volunteer Program Changes

What should you do when it’s time to change the policies and procedures that govern or guide the volunteers that work with your organization? How can you create a culture of inclusion and get buy-in for those new policies? This training will give you the tools to approach program changes in a strategic way. We will also cover what to do if volunteers either can’t or won’t adopt the policies, how to manage that situation, and what to do if ultimately you need to ask a volunteer to leave.

What You'll Learn: 

* Theories for change management

* Pitfalls and challenges around implementing changes in a volunteer engagement program

* Opportunities to build buy-in and support for changes

* What to do if you need to ask a volunteer to leave

 June 27, 2018 webinar archive – New Volunteer Manager’s ToolKit

Handouts shared at 6/27/18 webinar:

Sample Volunteer Interview Questions

Sample Confidentiality Agreement

Volunteer Program Evaluation Checklist

Engaging Volunteers from Diverse and Immigrant Communities

Volunteers with Disabilities: What You Need to Know, Library Accessibility Tip Sheet 9 (ASCLA)

More ASCLA tip sheets on specific accessibility issues

Inclusive Volunteering: Recommendations for Volunteer Coordinators on How to Develop a More Inclusive Volunteer Programme

Building Inclusive Bridges: A Guide to Facilitating Inclusive Referrals