Service: Volunteering with the Seattle Public Library

Before applying for graduate school, I wanted to make sure the library was a place I could envision spending the rest of my life. As a result, I began volunteering with the Seattle Public Library in April of 2004. It is now over three years later and I am concluding on my second year of library school at the University of Washington. As a volunteer, I have over 400 hours of first-hand experience with SPL patrons. I have done everything from assisting at branch openings to helping facilitate large groups of children at library programs. I also responded to patron inquiries at one of several Welcome Desks located within the downtown library. This position required a vast knowledge of the library, downtown Seattle, a great deal of patience and a sparkling personality – all of which I possess.

The Welcome Desk provided me with a unique opportunity to see what questions patrons ask librarians. Even though as volunteers we are unable to answer questions and would refer patrons to librarians, I took this opportunity to survey what public library users were most interested in locating. The most popular questions had to do with employment and health. Religion, travel and philosophy also ranked high on the list. My informal survey of patron needs became especially important during LIS521 where I paid special attention to resources that matched these needs.

In addition to the Welcome Desk, my other significant volunteer experience with SPL includes mending books for the Downtown Library Fiction department. Influenced by the Fiction librarians mentioning that they wished they could mend books, I turned the skills I have accumulated over the last year and a half into a two-hour seminar I taught to iSchool students in early April.

These experiences have made me a life-long volunteer – once you start volunteering the positive reinforcement you receive from staff and library patrons is intoxicating. I look forward to a lifetime filled with volunteering.