Volunteers can be an important part of your school library program. The resources on this page can support you with managing and training community and student volunteers.
Encouraging family and community members to volunteer in the school library not only helps you complete library management tasks like shelving, but it also helps these stakeholders witness first-hand the learning that happens in the library!
Training and organizing volunteers can sometimes feel like too much to manage. Consider the following strategies:
Enlist a parent volunteer to serve as a school library volunteer coordinator - Partner with your most helpful volunteer to recruit and train others to support the library. A dedicated parent volunteer can recruit others interested in helping in the library, develop and manage a volunteer schedule, and train volunteers on shelving and book repair.
Provide training resources for volunteers - You might be teaching when a volunteer shows up for the first time. Rather than assuming they'll know what to do or quickly trying to give them directions, create a landing spot with a list of ongoing tasks and supporting directions for how to complete them. Use these resources, or adapt them to better suit your specific library.
Book Care & Repair Guide - PDF document from Demco. Print the pages that are most relevant to the tasks you have for volunteers to do (i.e.: Page 10 shows how to apply a book jacket cover when processing new books or repairing a damaged book).
Book Doctor Video Library - YouTube playlist that shows how to make common book repairs (from Demco).
Volunteering in a WCPSS School Library - created by Library Media Services. Printable sheet with directions (with QR links to videos) for how to shelve books, shelf read, or make book repairs.