Have you volunteered at your library?

[retiringat50]

what did they have you do?
crafts? read shelves? data entry?

 

[Marquette]

I helped stock shelves, helped with hand puppet plays, read to the little kids, helped corral little kids (summer reading program), helped people learn how to use the computers.

That was all a long time ago.

 

[Charlotte]

I volunteer at the library every week at my children's elementary school (or as some might call it, the "media center"). Tasks vary widely - I do checkout, check returned books in, assemble request packages from teachers, file books back on the shelves (love that dewey decimal guy), generally help kids with anything that they can't quite do by themselves - look up books in the computer, place holds on books, find things when they can't, etc.

It's really a fun place to be, the best volunteer work I've ever done.

 

[Khan]

My mother started volunteering at the local library (less than 2 miles from the houses) in her 60s; they ended up hiring her. She worked 20 hours a week for more than 10 years until she became physically unable.

Her obituary included a request for donations to the library.

 

[W2R]

I worked part time in a departmental library while a full time university student. It's not volunteering, but then (like a volunteer) I didn't have any training in library science.

Mostly what they had me do was physically very strenuous. Think of moving an entire stack of heavy bound journals and books across the room. Even with a cart, those books are heavy to lift up to the top shelf and elsewhere, and the lifting never ends. And then, put away the returned books. Then when they don't fit, move books from shelf to shelf so that the shelves all have a little leeway.

At the end of the day, I was sore and exhausted. Working in a library SOUNDS fun, intellectual, and interesting, but for me the reality of it was somewhat similar to what I imagine digging ditches might be like.

I also got to stamp books with the date when they were checked out, and type out cards for the card catalog (I don't suppose those are used any more), compile circulation statistics, and search for books that people were looking for, and things like that. But mostly, I just lugged books around.

I may volunteer after ER, but not at a library.

 

[Sue J]

I volunteered at our local library when they needed extra help in converting from the old system with a card in the pocket of the book to their new system with every book having a bar code. I would take a bar code sticker, double check the book and attach the sticker. All the bar codes were pre-determined so it wasn't difficult, they just needed lots of extra people to spend the time to get it done.

I've also volunteered at the elementary school in their library. I would read to the kids and then help them check out books. At the end of the school year all the volunteer moms would work on the library inventory. Unfortunately, our school library had no paid librarians, just the volunteers.

 

[pedorrero]

In a sense ... I am leaving some money to the library in my will. Other than the late fines I pay, this is the only help they'll ever see from me