[Publib] Is being a shelver good enough?

[Andrea Berstler]

The other consideration (of volunteers only being allowed to shelve books)
is the privacy issue. 
As a small, growing library, we simply could not function without our
volunteers. Could NOT! As in "Impossible."
They are every bit as important to us as our paid staff (present company
included) However (with 2 exceptions that were grandfathered in) we do not
allow volunteers to work the desk due to privacy issues. It is very
difficult for volunteers to understand that they cannot tell people who has
this book right now, what their spouse or child has checked out, etc.?  
This is in addition to the fact that it is difficult to make volunteer staff
attend staff meetings, training, etc. especially if you are really counting
on them to cover hours on the desk. 

As for the worth of volunteering and being seen in a library - the last 2
staff members I hired were longtime patrons. I think there is much to be
said for being seen in the library, knowing the library, understanding the
flavor of the collection, the needs of the patrons, etc. 

Perhaps you could volunteer to lead a book group, hold a book talk or other
program. Especially since you are an MLS student with former library
experience. The hours spent building relationships with patrons and staff
are worth their weight in gold. In fact, our volunteer coordinator is a
volunteer - there are some wonderful things volunteers can do - if they can
think just outside the box. 

Andrea
________________________________


Andrea Berstler
Director - The Village Library of Morgantown
207 N Walnut St
Morgantown, PA 19543
www.villagelibrary.org
Preserving the Past . . . Preparing for the Future


 -----Original Message-----
From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org [mailto:publib-bounces at webjunction.org]
On Behalf Of Julie Turley
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2007 12:21 AM
To: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Publib] Is being a shelver good enough?

I am an MLS student who followed the ³hard job search² thread that
transpired last month with avid interest.  My library experience (as a
reference assistant in both research and special libraries) is almost ten
years old.  I am trying to work in a library again, while completing my
degree, yet it has been hard to find part-time library work here in my city.
Inspired by the responses to the ³hard-job search² poster last month, I
began volunteering in a local city library branch.  The librarian has made
it clear, however, that the only thing she¹ll ever let me do as a volunteer
is shelve books, dvds, etc, which is apparently the policy for volunteers in
my city¹s library system.  That¹s fine‹I¹m happy to help out‹I love working
in a library in any capacity, and I think it¹s valuable to get to know the
collection and discover what items circulate.  But I can¹t help but wonder
if volunteer work as a shelver is going to look ³good enough² on a resume
when I graduate and start looking for a full-time job.  This is probably an
unanswerable question, but if this is all that I end up being able to do,
and I want to work as a public librarian after graduation, is being a
shelver good enough?

I hope this question isn't too neurotic and/or silly‹and please ignore it if
it is; but perhaps someone else in my position has wondered the same thing??

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