Thing 22: Volunteering to Get Experience

Unpaid work has a place in my life.  Through my various volunteering experiences, I have gained skills, met new people, and positively affected my community.  Through volunteering, I have made deeper connections with people I have already known.  Even when I have not particularly enjoy a task, I have learned about myself.  I know, for example, that archives can be interesting places to visit, but that I do not want to work in one.  Volunteering leads to unexpected places and leads me to challenge myself.  I find volunteering rewarding.

I have volunteered in a number of ways in the past, in both long term and short-term capacities.  Some of my service has been grunt work -- such as sorting and moving donations to a non-profit's rummage sale or helping new students move into dormitories -- and some of it has been more intellectual.  As the secretary for a club/organization, I have recorded minutes to distribute to group members.  I have contacted outside organizations to ask for donations, potential speakers, and other assistance.  While serving in one position, I tutored elementary school students and also helped lead a training session for other members of the organization.  I have sold merchandise, manned food stands, and staffed a registration table.  I have directed event attendees to various activity locations and answered attendees questions.  Each experience has been valuable in one way or another.

Most of my direct library-related volunteering has been through one-time sessions.  Because my schedule is a bit unpredictable, these types of events work better than something requiring a long-term commitment.  I have helped label, repair, and organize items in local school libraries, helped inventory a special library's collection, and assisted with a book festival.  I have become active on the listserv for one of the professional organizations I have joined.  Although my service on this listserv is nothing formal, I count it as volunteering.  I have been considering trying to begin more long-term service, particularly something in a public library's children's department, but have been wary of making a long-term, location-based commitment when I am uncertain how long I will be in the area.  Fortunately, a virtual opportunity presented itself last week; I agreed to help compile a list of position advertisements for a job-seeking group I joined. 

Most of the direct library volunteering I have done has been opportunistic.  Someone else has organized a volunteer event or asked for volunteers and I have jumped on the chance.  In response to the recent spurt of conversations regarding volunteering, I plan to take more control of my unpaid work.  I will formalize my volunteering through targeted opportunities.