Like the annual Book Fair, other school activities like Open House and Curriculum Night also provide excellent opportunities to promote your library and recruit human resources. Make arrangements for visitors to include a stop in the Media Center during tours, and have information, handouts, and/or a presentation prepared. Be sure to place volunteers outside the library and at school entrances to remind those attending to visit this most valuable resource.

Volunteers, and More Volunteers

Another popular way to reach out to your community is to recruit volunteers to assist in your library media center. Again, this is a practice that requires time and effort, but if done well – can provide invaluable opportunities, resources, and support to both you and your volunteers. Yes, you have to be selective, and yes, it does take time to match individual skills to available tasks. But if you can find time to do so, you will benefit not only from the (eventual) assistance you gain, but the invaluable relationships you will develop with community members. Like the Book Fair, working with volunteers exposes you to many and various individuals and experiences which can provide additional resources and invaluable instructional support.

When you consider starting a volunteer program, you must first think of the available pool of individuals. Consider which tasks are appropriate for volunteers and who is available to assist you. Don’t limit yourself to parents as, although they are an excellent resource, they are not always available. In rural and urban settings you will be competing with job and daycare schedules, so it may not be an option. This was the case with one particular SLMS a K-8 setting who, perhaps out of necessity, chose to empower her students. Older ones, with good knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System assisted with circulation and re-shelving, while younger students were quickly taught how to check out their own books. It was very impressive to see children of various ages navigating the circulation system at different levels, and doing it well!
A third potential pool of volunteers to consider is your local senior citizens. Many seniors have a high level of both need and respect for the services provided by libraries, and would enjoy the opportunity to interact with younger generations. Additionally, exposing students to this ever-growing population is an excellent way to build not only compassion and empathy, but to practice communication skills with individuals outside their normal social realm. If you think this type of arrangement could work for you, begin by soliciting the assistance of student grandparents and/or visiting your local senior citizen facility.

A Second Teacher’s Lounge?

When one school library media specialist was faced with decreasing urban budgets that eliminated additional library staff and left her alone to service over eight hundred K-8 students, she struggled with her personal desire to continue to collaborate with teachers on student projects. Knowing that to leave her library to facilitate relationships with teachers would require locking the door and denying access, she found a very clever and perhaps unorthodox way to bring the teachers to her. Her plan required very little effort. She obtained a used coffee maker, invested in some initial supplies, and invited all teachers to drop in anytime and help themselves to a fresh-brewed cup and browse the magazine and newspaper subscriptions conveniently located nearby. The result was a steady flow of traffic into the library throughout the day. If the SLMS was busy with a class, no problem, the coffee station was conveniently located right inside the library door where teachers could step in and out with little to no disruption. It was also located near the SLMS’s office, and the circulation desk, so when not with a class the SLMS had direct access to all who entered. All that was necessary to maintain the service was a donation cup and a few minutes each day to make a fresh pot (a task easily delegated to student volunteers). Word spread quickly, and soon various pastries and other home goods began to mysteriously appear to accompany the beverage. Although the service did not draw in every teacher in the building, this SLMS was able to continue to establish and build relations without denying access to her students.