Quality volunteers can make a world of difference in today's library, and this hands-on guide gives you everything you need to maximize your library's services and build a bridge between your library and the community it serves.

This book helps the library get the most from volunteers, whether creating a program from scratch, or just refreshing what has been created for the library. It looks beyond the scope of the library to include information on partnering with community organizations to provide volunteer opportunities to library volunteers on a broader scale.

Faced with ever growing patron demands, tight budgets, and limited personnel, libraries are relying more and more on volunteers to assist the paid staff. But for every professional who "manages" volunteers there is a horror story--a "problem volunteer" who lacked the talent, commitment, team spirit, personality or available time to do the job. How does the busy librarian develop and manage a successful volunteer program? This is the guide to implementing and managing a volunteer program tailored to the needs of the individual library. Issues such as recruitment and placement, training, development, and evaluation, and the "challenging" volunteer are discussed. Sample applications, advertisements, press releases, job descriptions, and skills and aptitude tests are also included.

Completely revised and expanded, the ultimate guide to starting—and keeping—an active and effective volunteer program Drawing on the experience and expertise of recognized authorities on nonprofit organizations, The Volunteer Management Handbook, Second Edition is the only guide you need for establishing and maintaining an active and effective volunteer program. Written by nonprofit leader Tracy Connors, this handy reference offers practical guidance on such essential issues as motivating people to volunteer their time and services, recruitment, and more. Up-to-date and practical, this is the essential guide to managing your nonprofit's most important resource: its volunteers. Now covers volunteer demographics, volunteer program leaders and managers, policy making and implementation, planning and staff analysis, recruiting, interviewing and screening volunteers, orienting and training volunteers, and much more Up-to-date, practical guidance for the major areas of volunteer leadership and management Explores volunteers and the law: liabilities, immunities, and responsibilities Designed to help nonprofit organizations survive and thrive, The Volunteer Management Handbook, Second Edition is an indispensable reference that is unsurpassed in both the breadth and depth of its coverage.

Volunteers are crucial to the daily operation of any library. Finding and retaining the right people, motivating them and matching their skills with projects is challenging. This collection of 30 new essays brings together the experiences of numerous individuals across the U.S., providing ideas, projects and best practices for volunteer recruiting and management. The contributors—among them library board members, heads of special collections, directors of state library associations, outreach coordinators, archivists and researchers—discuss a broad range of topics in five sections: recruitment and retention; policies and process; mentoring and empowering; placement, programs and responsibilities; and outreach.

When teens volunteer at the library, they gain new skills, make connections, and build their resumes, while libraries benefit from a new generation of advocates. This guide shows librarians how to establish or develop a teen volunteer program. Advocating a flexible approach, this book speaks to every library, including both public and school libraries. From small libraries with no budget to large libraries with seemingly endless budgets and everything in between, all of the concepts covered can be scaled up or down to meet the needs of the community being served. The book begins with the big picture, discussing benefits to teens, libraries, and communities; it then reviews volunteer types and volunteer possibilities for teens, including the traditional roles of shelving and programming as well as passion-led projects, programming opportunities, and special initiatives and drives. Specific volunteer roles are described in depth, with instructions for practical applications, and concrete examples and experiences from various types of libraries illustrate principles discussed. Readers will also learn how to establish volunteer partnerships within and outside of the library. The book ends with a discussion of methods for evaluation and assessment.

An essential guide for volunteer leaders and staff of professional, trade and charitable organizations. Outlines 12 basic needs of volunteers in membership associations and clearly explains how to meet those needs. Rich with examples and useful tools, this book is a quick read that you will reference again and again.