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Millions of people across the world work for voluntary organisations and invest their abundant energies into helping their communities. Historically, establishments of voluntary organisations date back to at least the nineteenth century, when some of the world’s largest voluntary organisations, such as the Red Cross, were established to help people in need for free. To date, volunteer work remains a popular activity among the public worldwide.

The post The power of volunteering: you make me happy and I make you happy appeared first on OUPblog.

Later this spring our library will be hosting its first ever Volunteer Fair.  We are so excited for this event as it brings value to the community as well as lays the foundation for new partnerships with many local organizations.

We considered a volunteer fair for our community for several reasons.  First, our library is fortunate to be located in a town that is dedicated to civic service and philanthropy.  This event is also a great way for us to target and engage two elusive age groups for us– tweens and teens.  Finally, a volunteer fair supports one of our library’s missions: to act as a responsive resource for lifelong learning.  We hope a successful fair will further strengthen the library’s position as a vital center of the community and create lasting partnerships with local organizations.

Finding and securing participants in the fair has been a great education in the breadth of service opportunities available.  If you’re interested in holding a Volunteer Fair, here are a few tips to get you started:

• Begin with existing partnerships. Does the library partner with any other local organizations for programming or outreach efforts?  Does your Friends group use volunteers?  Does your library display flyers or brochures from organizations that could use volunteers?
• Collaborate with colleagues. Are any coworkers actively volunteering?  Or do they have a connection to an organization in need?
• Look at which other organizations are present at community events. Farmer’s Markets and festivals are a great way to make contact and learn about other local organizations.
• Research national organizations that may have a local chapter nearby in need of volunteers. These can include: American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, Alzheimer’s Foundation, National Multiple Sclerosis Society and many others.
• Perform an online search to see what opportunities are available in your area and contact those organizations directly about your event. Websites like volunteermatch.org and createthegood.org are a good place to start.  Also your community’s website may list opportunities.
• Enlisting participants may seem like a daunting task, but the mutual benefits of a volunteer fair encourage involvement and support.  The organization is able to recruit volunteers and increase public awareness of their mission while the library is able to connect its patrons with meaningful service opportunities.

Sophia Kenney is a member of the ALSC Liaison with National Organizations committee and works for Glencoe Public Library.

The post Host a Volunteer Fair appeared first on ALSC Blog.

Everyone knows about ALSC committees like Newbery & Caldecott, but there is a galaxy of other committees full of dedicated librarians that make ALSC tick and support us all in our work.

Serving on a process committee like Membership, Grants Administration, or Organization and Bylaws provides opportunities to build relationships with other librarians, while also building leadership skills, looking at ALSC: The Big Picture, and guiding how ALSC operates and serves us all.

Not all of these groups require attending a conference, there are virtual committees too. These can be really excellent for finding mentors and building a librarian community if you’re feeling isolated.

Check out the roster of opportuntities on the ALSC Committees page & fill out your volunteer form today!  Join us!

The post ALSC Process & Program Committees May Not Be Glamorous on Monday Morning, but are Super Worthwhile #alamw16 appeared first on ALSC Blog.

In 2004, I was waiting on a tube platform and spotted posters asking: ‘Police – could you?’. I thought about that a lot and realised that, at that point in time, I couldn’t. I didn’t feel certain enough that, in difficult situations, I would have good enough judgement always to do the right thing. Fast forward ten years and I’d done a fair bit of growing up. I’d worked in a police force and spent a lot of time with officers – both regulars and Specials.

The post My life as a ‘career Special’ appeared first on OUPblog.

On Sunday September 13, the United States will celebrate National Grandparents’ Day. This annual holiday, held on the first Sunday after Labor Day, celebrates our grandmothers and grandfathers. Marian McQuade, grandmother to 43 and great-grandmother of 15, is widely credited with founding the holiday.

The post Grandparents’ Day: A reading list appeared first on OUPblog.

My eureka moment with citizenship came one morning during the mid-1990s. The New Haven mental health outreach team that I ran was meeting for rounds. Ed, a peer outreach worker, meaning a person with his own history of mental health problems who’s made progress in his recovery and his now working with others, didn’t look happy.

The post Citizenship and community mental health work appeared first on OUPblog.

It’s been over 10 years since Mr. Wilbert Scott and Cashadell Lewis first met, but both remember it like it was yesterday.

“My name is Cashadell, but you can call me Cash,” said Lewis.

“You call me Mr. Scott. And I will call you Cashadell Lewis,” Mr. Scott replied.

“When I first saw Mr. Scott, I knew he didn’t play,” recalls Cashadell. “And even though I didn’t want it at the time, I knew I needed someone like him.”

Mr. Scott had been paired with Cashadell as a Power Lunch reading mentor with Everybody Wins! Atlanta. The program, now in its 18^th year, pairs volunteer reading mentors from local businesses and community organizations with first through fifth grade students identified by their teachers as reading below their grade level. Nearly 90 percent of the 550 students who currently participate in the Power Lunch program live in poverty. Many have no books at home.

Every Thursday, Mr. Scott visited Hope-Hill Elementary School to read aloud with Cashadell over the lunch hour. As weeks turned into years, Cashadell grew into a stronger reader and developed a special bond with Mr. Scott.

Now a mentor and a friend, Mr. Scott sees Cashadell graduating from college and returning to Hope-Hill Elementary as a mentor himself. And when he does, First Book will be there to support him.

Since June 2011, First Book has provided Everybody Wins! Atlanta with 10,126 books. The books are used to stock book carts, which hold hundreds of books for reading pairs to choose from, at the 11 schools that participate in the Power Lunch program.  Each Power Lunch student also receives at least three new books to take home every year.

Last year, students got to take home even more books, thanks to our friends at dd’s DISCOUNTS. The local dd’s DISCOUNTS store raised funds to help provide over 700 brand-new books to Everybody Wins! Atlanta.

Help more kids more kids like Cashadell read, learn and succeed. Join dd’s DISCOUNTS in providing new books to outstanding programs like Everybody Wins! Atlanta by making a gift to First Book today.

The post Once a Mentor, Forever a Friend appeared first on First Book Blog.

When Melissa Deneen Shipp surprised each of her students with a new book of their very own, their reaction surprised her. “Normally this is the part when they maul me with hugs,” she said. “But instead they just stared. They literally couldn’t believe their eyes!”

She told her students, “Yes, YOU are the owner of that book!” Jumping up and down, her students shouted in reply, “This is mine, this is mine!” It was one of the best days Melissa has ever had as a teacher.

For over 20 years, teachers like Melissa and supporters like you have joined First Book to bring moments of joy, comfort and learning to millions of kids in need.

But there’s so much more to be done. Over 32 million kids in the U.S. live in poverty. In their homes, schools and communities, books are rare.

As our kids return to school this month, we invite you to support them – now, throughout the year and into the future.

How can you make a difference? Volunteer your time, tell educators in your community about First Book or donate to get books in the hands of children in need. Check out our 2014 Action Kit and discover the many ways you can get involved today.

First Book will provide 15 million books to kids in need this year and we believe we can meet this goal because of supporters like you. Take action today!

The post Take Action for Kids in Need appeared first on First Book Blog.

They each shared their reasons for being there – cherished memories of reading with a parent, the desire to instill a love of reading in their own kids, wanting to honor a father’s passion for education. It was the first task Joy Brooke, co-chair of First Book’s Seattle volunteer chapter, asked her members to complete.

“Everyone had a story that led them to First Book. And everyone believed in the simple goal of getting books to kids,” said Joy. Joy herself was drawn to the idea of helping put new books into the homes of low-income families. As a teacher and a mother of two who is also earning her doctorate in Education Leadership, she also loves how much flexibility and creativity she has a First Book volunteer.

In the past year, she and the Seattle volunteer chapter held a unique fundraising event a local glassblowing studio, distributed a truckload of 40,000 books to local kids in need and hosted their 3rd Annual Storytime event with local celebrities.

To top it all off, Joy took advantage of a recent family vacation to provide new books to kids in Costa Rica. Her own kids joined her on a visit to a school in the coastal town of Quepos where they toured the library and read stories in Spanish. “The experience,” she said, “was the most rewarding part of the trip. It cost so little and was worth so much.”

First Book is grateful to Joy and all the volunteers who help bring books to kids across the country and around the globe. To join First Book as a volunteer, visit www.firstbook.org/volunteer.

The post The Joy of Giving Back appeared first on First Book Blog.

We can all learn something from the selfless acts of children. Check out these five stories of kids helping kids in need get new books.

1. The Best Neighbor Ever.

Crestwood Intermediate School in Mantua, Ohio puts others first. The 3rd-5th graders raised over $1300 through a First Book Virtual Book Drive. They set out to raise this money not for themselves, but for a neighboring school in their community, David Hill Learning Center. Crestwood was determined to make sure that their friends at David Hill would have books to call their own.

2. The 10-Year-Old Entrepreneur. 

Malaika became a young social entrepreneur at the ripe age of 10-years-old. She wanted kids less fortunate than her to be able to enjoy books so she raised money through a book and lemonade stand and donated it all to First Book. She provided over 30 books to kids in need.

3.  The  Coin Collectors

Students at Union Elementary in Farmington, CT turned pockets full of change into a bucket full of change. That bucket ended up providing 160 brand-new books to children affected by Hurricane Sandy.

4.  All You Need Is Change. 

Speaking of kids making change, third graders at Fisher Elementary in MN, collected loose change for six weeks. They took a walk to the local bank and turned all that change into a donation to First Book.

5. The Birthday Girl

Eight-year-old Siena didn’t want toys or presents for her eighth birthday. Instead, she wanted children in need to get new books. She surpassed her goal and got her birthday wish, placing over 150 brand-new books into the hands of kids in need.

Okay, So Now What? 

Join these amazing stories by helping kids in need have a steady stream of books throughout the school year.

The post 5 Inspiring Stories Of Kids Helping Kids appeared first on First Book Blog.

First Book is a nonprofit social enterprise that provides new books to programs and schools serving children in need. Dedicated volunteers around the country (called First Book “Advisory Boards”) raise funds in their communities to provide brand-new books to local schools and programs, and YOU can be a part of that.

Learn New Skills

Volunteering with First Book means you can gain new skills, adding professional value to resumes and college applications. There are a wide range of skills that you can develop, including community outreach, partnership building, fundraising, event planning and grant writing.

Meet New People

When you volunteer, you get to meet new people who share the same interests. Volunteering can lead to networking opportunities or even new friends! You will have all kinds of things to talk about as you discuss why you decided to volunteer with First Book when meeting and interacting with fellow volunteers.

Community Ties

By volunteering your time with a First Book Advisory Board in your community, you are furthering First Book’s mission and getting books into the hands of kids in your local area.  Advisory Board members can impact the quality of education for local programs and classrooms by providing books and resources.

It’s Good For You

When you are looking for something new to do that’s good for you, volunteering keeps you busy and active. According to health and fitness website, Greatist.com, a past study has shown that “People who volunteered for selfless reasons and to create valuable relationships decreased the risk of mortality.” Not only does volunteering give you a sense of fulfillment, but also wellness.

You Make A Difference

If you offer your time and volunteer with First Book then you will be helping us get brand-new books into the hands of more kids in need. Together we can transform the lives of children in need and elevate the quality of education.

Find out more information about how you can volunteer with First Book by clicking here. 

The post Lose Ten Pounds & Get More Dates: Five Reasons to Volunteer with First Book appeared first on First Book Blog.

Throughout the year, teens in my branch come in, check out their things, and leave. Not many hang out in our teen area, maybe because our other branch has a way cooler teen room. Our stats show that they like our collection, but programming-wise, the numbers are never there. This is why I love summer. We see more teens during the summer than at any other time, and they all want to volunteer.

This year we’ve had to turn away teens and send them to other branches because, for once in as long as I can remember, we’re fully staffed with teen volunteers. They run our Summer Reading Club table and completely take care of registration, logs, and handing out prizes. We pull them into help with programs, especially ones where we need another set of hands. We’re getting another problem, though. We have so many teen volunteers that we don’t know what to do with all of them, and the natives get restless during the slow time of the day. We’ve had to get creative in coming up with things for them to do.

When we have more than two teens at the SRC table, and it’s slow, we’ve given them tasks like entering the SRC forms into our tracker software, or labeling the many, many, many pieces of our early literacy station activities. They shelve and straighten and pick up in-house, but we don’t want them doing that all the time (mostly because we don’t like doing it all the time either). They help set up for programs, especially ones that have crafts, but when all of this is finished, there’s nothing left. A lot of them are happy to read at the SRC table until someone needs help. Others are more…boisterous, shall we say, and when they don’t have a task, they’re getting into trouble.

Does anyone else have the problem of too many volunteers and not enough to do? Leave your solutions in the comments!

We’re still buzzing about the Superbowl (including the actual game, halftime show, ads — view all of them here — and the social media record that was set during the last three minutes of the game, where a whopping 10,000 tweets were sent... Read the rest of this post

I am involved with a new Christian radio station preparing to go on the air in Central Florida. As this is a non-profit, it will rely heavily on volunteers and pledges.

Aiming to get children growing and loving veg www.secretseedsociety.com.

In the Summer we visit shows and festivals telling stories and singing songs.

WANTED

Volunteers with some of the following:-

• Out-going personalities

• Willing to work week-ends

• Empathy with children

• Understanding of healthy eating and sustainability

• Lots of initiative and energy

• Confident talking with/selling to the public

And in particular:-

• A musician with instrument to play familiar children’s tunes

What you will gain:-

• Wide-ranging work experience

• Confidence building and Knowledge

• Visits to festivals and garden shows

• Detailed references confirming your experiences and abilities

“I started work for Secret Seed Society as an intern and have really enjoyed being part of Seed City, visiting events and wearing the wonderful vegetable hats!” Emma West

CONTACT: (Shena) 07968 535 020

Colleen Ludington is a children’s book author, mother of two and community volunteer, and has helped distribute 144,000 new books to children from low-income neighborhood in Charlotte. N.C. over the last five years.

“It’s not just awesome,” she said. “It’s really rewarding.”

Under Ludington’s leadership, First Book’s local Advisory Board in Charlotte has had significant fund-raising success. They throw an annual gala, which raises more money each year. These events require a fair amount of effort and know-how, and the local group meets costs by courting corporate sponsors and underwriters like Time Warner, Cisco, IBM and KPMG. “It can’t be done without that,” said Ludington. “There are certain minimums that it’s going to cost. But we’ve had a lot of success.”

(The board’s 2011 spring gala is May 20. If you’re in the Charlotte area, check it out.)

Ludington has been active in community service most of her life, and she found First Book when she and her family moved to Charlotte. She said that she liked First Book’s mission, it’s specific focus on solving one large problem, and the “economics” of it – the average cost of $2.50 per new book. “To be able to do so much for so little money,” she said. “For most people to give ten dollars … it’s not a hardship.”

She was also moved by the plight of children she saw in low-income schools. One teacher told her that some children resorted to reading the labels on soup cans to complete their required homework of 20 minutes of nightly reading.

“When you stop and consider … there are many, many children in our community who don’t have a single book to snuggle up with at night,” she said. “Until something changes, I don’t see how these kids even have a chance.”

First Book Wants You! Help us get books to kids who need them in your community. To learn more about volunteering, visit us online.

Image by Heal the Bay via Flickr

When was the last time you volunteered for a cause and what was it?

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Hey folks. I’m posting another tear sheet sample of some work I did a few months back for the Nov/Dec issue of Children’s Ministry magazine. Five times a year I do a spot illustration to accompany a story about people’s experiences working in children’s ministry at their church, etc.. They are encouraging stories and I look forward to them bi-monthly. This month’s article was no exception. I am blessed to be able to add a little touch of something to these.

Below: My illustration with the article in the spread.

Below: The rough next to the final art. Not much difference, really, and I kept the woman and frame, just adding a few touches like the rose (since her name was Rose) and reworked the lettering.

Some things I’ve noted as I work in this style (and hope you’ll find of interest, too!): My roughs don’t usually start out as line work as they do when I’m doing the line work or cartoon-like style. I go straight for the watercolor brushes, painting my rough in this more immediate style. It forces me to be more spontaneous and let go of conventions and standards, such as perspective. It’s a very refreshing way for me to work and I am enjoying the results.

YALSA’s First Webinar: Join YALSA on March 31 at 2 p.m. Eastern for a FREE webinar! Linda Braun, YALSA president, will lead the hour-long session on the topic of Getting Involved with YALSA. Topics include the various ways to participate in YALSA, and how doing so can help your daily work and career development. Registration is limited, so please contact Eve Gaus at 1-800-545-2433, ext. 5293 or [email protected] to reserve your space.

Process Volunteer Forms Due Today YALSA will begin appointing process committee, jury, task force, and advisory board members this spring! Be sure to fill out your Committee Volunteer Form by March 12 so that Kim Patton, YALSA’s president-elect, will know you’re interested. (Read Kim Patton’s post on the process to find out more about serving on YALSA’s committees).

After the jump, learn more about YALSA’s preconferences (including which authors will appear!), how to access YALSA’s newly revised competencies, details on YALSA’s upcoming mentoring program, how to enter the 2010 Great Ideas contest, and information on the 2010 Young Adult Literature Symposium.

Join YALSA for Annual Preconferences: YALSA will offer two preconferences before the ALA Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.  (Advanced registration ends in May) If you have already registered and would like to add a preconference or special event, you have two options: (1) By phone: Call ALA Registration at 1-800-974-3084 and ask to add a workshop to your existing registration.; (2) Online: Add an event to your existing registration by clicking on this link. Use your log in and password to access your existing Annual registration and add events in the “Your Events” section (screen 6). Then simply check out and pay for the events you’ve added.

YALSA  has plenty planned, in addition to preconferences. See everything we have planned at the YALSA Annual Conference Wiki.

It’s Perfectly Normal: Dealing with “Sensitive” Topics in Teen Services is a full-day workshop on  Friday, June 24 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Have you ever found yourself worrying about how best to address critical but sensitive adolescent topics through your teen services and collection? Topics like sexuality, abuse, privacy and others can be difficult for librarians to address with teens &/or their parents and caregivers. Hear from experts in the field of adolescent development, along with authors and librarians, about how they have managed to successfully maneuver this difficult landscape. Explore strategies for collection development, services and programming relating to these sensitive issues. Tickets cost $195 for YA