Contents:

Index page

Annual reports

Professional Issues

Library Association Record

Past Conferences

Professional Issues - Public

Involving Volunteers in Public Libraries

Guidelines

ISBN 0 9537404 2 0

Contents

• Introduction
• The Guidelines
• Library Authority policy
• Recruitment processes
• Management
• Annex A Job substitution – a position statement
• Annex B Directory of voluntary organisations and agencies

Full document 18 pages, 64 KB Documents are available in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF). These documents are identified by the use of the symbol on the left. To view these documents you need to use a PDF file viewer such as Acrobat Reader from Adobe Systems Incorporated. You should be aware that documents held in this format are typically larger than text files. Acrobat Reader is available at no charge from Adobe Systems' World-Wide Web Site.

Introduction

These Guidelines for involving volunteers in public libraries have been prepared following research commissioned by The Library Association in 1999.  In commissioning this work, The Library Association recognised that the circumstances in which volunteers are involved and the nature of volunteer activity in public libraries are both changing.

Background

Volunteers are a valuable part of many public library services. A survey of public library authorities, conducted as part of the research, indicated that 75% of respondents currently involve volunteers in a variety of roles including housebound services, local studies, hospital services and storytime sessions.  Forty-three percent of those authorities not currently using volunteers are considering their involvement.  These guidelines are intended for public library authorities in the UK who involve volunteers or who are considering their involvement.

Bringing volunteers into library services can be a way of encouraging community participation and involvement in library services and provide an opportunity for extending social inclusion. 

Use of these Guidelines

These Guidelines are intended to be open and enabling rather than prescriptive for library services. They are not intended to define minimum standards. A pragmatic approach to the involvement and management of volunteers is suggested, so that the level of management effort is appropriate to local situations and is realistic in terms of the level of volunteer participation and activity.

The guidelines are divided into three sections:

• Policy
• Recruitment
• Management

Annexes cover:

• The Library Association policies on job substitution and the acceptability of unpaid work for the purpose of fulfilling the requirements for admission to the Register of Chartered Members
• Directory of voluntary organisations and agencies

The Library Association, 2001

This page was last updated on 14 December, 2005