Welcome to the East Brunswick Library teen volunteering program! TAG (Teen Action Group) is open to all East Brunswick teens beginning the summer before their eighth grade year. Please reference the instructions below for a step-by-step guide on how to become a teen volunteer, and see the linked pages for help troubleshooting any specific issues. If you still have questions, or are having technical difficulties with any of the listed steps, please email the teen department at teens@ebpl.org and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.
Parents, please feel free to reference the below information and provide it to your teen who is interested in volunteering. We strongly encourage teens to manage their own volunteering responsibilities, including contacting staff to ask questions, signing up for volunteering hours, and calling out of scheduled volunteer shifts. We value and prioritize helping teens build independence, responsibility, good communication, and other professional skills that will serve them well in college and beyond, into their adult lives. If your teen needs any specific accommodations in order to participate fully, we are always happy to discuss and implement their support needs.
TAG applications are only available online; we do not have any paper forms. Please make sure you are filling out the teen volunteer application (linked here!) and not the adult volunteer application. When you fill out the application, please make sure to note the following:
Use an email address that you, the student, have access to year-round. EBnet accounts from school sometimes mark our emails as spam, so personal Gmail accounts are preferred.
Make sure to list two separate emergency contacts. This means different names and different cell phone numbers. Your emergency contacts do not have to live with you. Grandparents, trusted neighbors, aunts/uncles, etc. are all acceptable.
Have a photo ready that is similar in style to a school ID or passport photo. We should be able to see your whole face from the shoulders up in good lighting. Please no filters, stickers, or sunglasses.
Library staff check for new applications regularly throughout the week, but we do occasionally have vacation days, sick time, or conferences. Please wait at least one full week before calling or emailing to follow up on your application. Before contacting us, please double check your email and spam to see if we have tried to reach out to you regarding a missing piece of information in your application or with your welcome email.
The welcome email will include further information about how to sign up for volunteer hours, a link to our FAQ document, a link to the current list of volunteer shifts for the month, and more. Please read all this information carefully.
Your welcome email will include a link to our new member orientation meeting. This is a 30 minute Zoom meeting that all new volunteers should plan to attend within the first two months of their volunteer service. We offer this meeting every month on the first Thursday, so if the next one doesn't work for your schedule, you can register for the following month instead. Here is the registration link for the upcoming orientation meetings. You can register to attend this meeting before receiving your welcome email or before submitting your application, and we will review the entire volunteering process, leaving time for questions at the end. You are only required to attend this once as a new volunteer, however you are welcome to attend again later on if you would like a refresher or want to ask some specific questions.
For convenient notifications and to keep students safe, we use the Remind app for all volunteering notices. This app keeps students' phone number private and also restricts your ability to communicate with other volunteers you may not know. You will only be able to receive messages from library staff and cannot send messages to them or anyone else. Your Remind class code will be sent to you in the welcome email. If you are having trouble setting up Remind, please see this page for troubleshooting and tips. If you are still experiencing difficulties, please email teens@ebpl.org with screenshots or a clear explanation of the issue you are experiencing.
Once you have submitted your application, received your welcome email, and signed up for Remind, you are ready to start volunteering! Becca sends out the monthly sign ups approximately one week before the beginning of the new month (eg. February sign ups get sent out the last week of January). You will get a text a few days beforehand letting you know exactly what day and time the sign up link will be sent out (eg. "April sign ups will be posted Sunday the 21st at 3 pm!"). Many volunteers set alarms on their phones so they can be ready since volunteer shifts fill up quickly!
Additional shifts are sometimes added later when a volunteer cancels/calls out or a library staff member asks for additional volunteers. These are not usually announced via Remind unless it's a last minute event, so it's good to get in the habit of checking the sign up sheet periodically.
For a full description of the different types of volunteering we have available at the library, see this page.
The typical workflow of a volunteering shift goes like this:
Sign up for a shift that works for your schedule through the link that is sent out every month on Remind. (Pro tip: make sure you add this to your calendar or a reminder on your phone so you remember when to show up!)
Show up for your scheduled shift and check in at the desk listed in the sign up sheet. A staff member will always be listed as well. (Ex. "Report to the teen desk, look for Becca.")
Get your instructions and complete your volunteering shift.
At the end of your shift, check back in with the staff member listed and get the QR code for the hour logging form from them. You must fill out this Google Form for every shift you complete in order to get credit for your volunteer hours. No form, no record, no credit! If you think you may have missed logging a shift, email teens@ebpl.org and we would be happy to check your records for you to see if anything is missing or needs to be corrected.
Pro tip: make sure you always use the email address you signed up with in your volunteer application all the way back in step 1. This is how our form knows to add up all your hours together. If you switch email addresses, it may lose count of how many hours you've completed. Make sure to email us if you need to update your email address in our records!
We rely on our volunteers to help keep the library running. If you sign up for a volunteer shift, we expect you to be there on time and ready to jump in and help out. However, we understand that sometimes your schedule may change or emergencies may come up. If you need to cancel a shift you already signed up for, please try to give the library as much advance notice as possible so that we can offer the opportunity for volunteer hours to someone else. That way, another volunteer gets to complete more hours and the library still gets the extra help we need and rely on. You should always be calling out of a shift yourself! Unless you are completely incapacitated, lost your voice entirely, are currently undergoing surgery, etc., we do not accept parents calling out on your behalf.
To cancel or call out of a shift, email teens@ebpl.org. If it is within 24 hours of your scheduled shift, you must ALSO call the Youth Services desk at 732-390-6789.
For circulation shifts (shelving and packing transits) only: email teens@ebpl.org and always call the Circulation desk at 732-390-6950, regardless of how long it is until your shift.
If you are absent for a scheduled shift and don’t notify the library beforehand, it will be counted as a “no-call/no-show.” Volunteers who are absent 2 or more times within a 2-month period will be suspended for one month so that you can focus on your other obligations and commitments. This does not go on any permanent record, this does not get reported to your school, it is purely our way of trying to respect the many tasks and responsibilities you are balancing.
If you attend Churchill or EBHS, you have a paper packet that needs to be submitted to your guidance counselor or grade level administrator in May of every school year. Please make sure you are writing down your volunteer shifts in this packet when you fill out the Google Form to log your hours for the library. If you forget to do this throughout the year, you can email us and we can send you a copy of your digital hour log.
In April, bring your packet to the library and drop it off at the Youth Services desk or the Teen desk. Please make sure to give it directly to a staff member. Do not leave it on an empty desk! Make sure you have filled out the student information so we know whose packet it is. A staff member who has worked with you throughout the year will fill out your evaluation and sign off on your hour total. Once we have finished filling out your form, you'll get an email letting you know it's ready to pick up at the Youth Services desk.
***PLEASE NOTE: All school packets must be handed in to the library no later than May 1st! We have more than 200 registered volunteers and need time to fill out everyone's packets. If you drop off your packet later than May 1st, we cannot guarantee that it will be ready for you by the school deadline, and you may have to request an extension from your guidance counselor or grade level administrator!***
For more detailed instructions on how to fill out your school packet, see this page.
We love returning volunteers! You become leaders in the teen volunteering program, and library staff may request you specifically if they know you have the skills they need for a particular event or program. Although the schools only require 15 hours of service every year, we are thrilled to have dedicated volunteers who go above and beyond to help the library. If you are one of those volunteers, know that we see you and we appreciate you!