Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) 2024Final.pptx
Volunteer Orientation Presentation
1. Volunteer Orientation “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does” (Margaret Mead)
9. Volunteer Perks It’s FUN! - Rewarding nature of serving community Acquire new skills and gain recognized work experience. Expand your social horizons. Keep up with the latest books. Contribute to the success of the largest, busiest, premier library in North Carolina. (and be appreciated for it.) 5
10. Volunteer Handbook Every volunteer has an assigned schedule Call us if you are going to be late or absent Notify Volunteer Point Person (VPP) if you are going on vacation or taking time off Serve with same high standard of professionalism as staff Patron Privacy Guidelines/Confidentiality
11. Nuts & Bolts of Dewey Collections / formats E, ER, J, YA, AAF, M, R, W, Bio, Reference “Mc” vs. “Mac” 100s, 200s, 300s, 741.5, etc.
12. Customer Service on the Floor Directional questions Book recommendations Subject related Reference Questions
13. Volunteer Program Contacts Chauna Wall 704.416.0711 cwall@cmlibrary.org Michael Lambert 704.416.0707 mlambert@cmlibrary.org
Why are we all here? We are here to expand minds, empower individuals and enrich the community. The Public Library is a pillar of our free and democratic society insuring free and open access to information for all that walk through our doors. We are here to stimulate lifelong learning and promote early literacy. We get kids excited about reading through our popular storytime programs and through the annual summer reading program.
This is a recent photo of the workroom at the University City Branch Library. This is not an uncommon sight after a long holiday weekend. We need all the help we can get as library staff and volunteers must unload our book-drops virtually every hour of everyday we are open and even on days we’re closed to keep them from overflowing. We must process deliveries of materials arriving from other branches and check in all these books, sort them and shelve them in their appropriate areas of the collection throughout the library. We also must hunt and find these items like a scavenger hunt as customers are requested specific books from all over the county. This is a big job, a relentless job that keeps us busy and provides us with plenty of exercise. Make no mistake this is physical work but it is fun to learn the different parts of the collection and see all the resources available in the library. I personally love the tactile experience of holding the books, smelling them and putting them in order (and reading them when I have the time!).
There is also some very specific information regarding how to shelve books and the different types of materials. You can review this information at home and it will make much more sense after you come in next time for your first work date in August when you get some additional on the job training.Shelving is the foundation for all other activities – fiction vs. nonfiction, material formats, media, J vs. YA vs. AdultGenresShelving Quirks And now I've discovered that, according to the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules version 2 (the standard that most libraries use for filing cards in the catalog, listing titles, authors, etc):* Authors with last names beginning with Mc are filed as though the names were Mac.phone books (though I think fewer than in the past) treat "Mc" and "Mac" as the same.
Inevitably when you are working out on the floor, you will be approached by library customers who will think you are a library staff member. We ask that you greet them warmly with a smile and inform them that you are a library volunteer. You are more than welcome to support the library staff in answering basic directional questions or by alerting the customer that a library staff member will be right with them. If you have recently read a good book and are comfortable sharing your recommendations, by all means help us connect readers with a good read. If you receive questions regarding the location of different collections, like the children’s area or cookbooks you can walk a customer to the proper area but if you are asked a more specific question regarding information needs or subject requests on a topic, we’d prefer that you not try to answer those questions, and find a library staff member to work with that customer.
At this time that concludes this presentation, we just want to thank you again for your willingness to get involved and support the library. We would not be one of America’s premier library systems in serving our community without such grassroots support.we’d like to give you an opportunity to ask questions. We’ll also conduct a tour of the facility and show you our volunteer hub where you’ll report for duty, sign in / sign out, check the bulletin board and get your volunteer badge and assignments. We also hope to snap your photo today so we can post it in the library for the library staff and volunteers to get to know each other better. After the tour please come back to enjoy some refreshments and get your mug shot taken. Okay let’s address any questions…
