Training Materials
Learn more about best practices in volunteer recruitment and engagement, and how to get the results you need.
NOTE: These are examples from public libraries and should be reviewed and modified to ensure fit with local policies and culture.
Title | Keyword | Tags | Year |
---|---|---|---|
Gaining Staff Buy-In for Volunteer Engagement
This chart created by Carla Lehn identifies the common reasons that staff are resistant to the idea of engaging volunteers in their work, and… more |
Capacity Building, Staff Training | staff buy-in | 2018 |
Beware of These 6 Trends Lurking in Your Volunteer Program
This brief article from November 2019 delineates troubling trends about volunteer engagement programs gleaned from the most recent Volunteer… more |
Capacity Building | 2019 | |
Could Volunteers Replace Paid Staff?? Have No Fear!
An organization’s decision to bring in volunteers may spark fears that volunteers could eventually replace staff. After all, volunteers can do many… more |
Staff Training, Engaging Staff and Unions | Staff Resistance, staff buy-in | 2019 |
Arizona's Buckeye Library Shares it's Experience with Get Involved
In this 6 minute video, Krista Cornish, Buckeye Library's (AZ) Volunteer Engagement Coordinator shares her library's experience and best… more |
Capacity Building, Engaging Staff and Unions | 2019 | |
How to Prioritize When Everything Feels Important
There's never enough time to do everything you want to do. It's a universal problem. And we all accept that fact and live with its reality until the… more |
Staff Training | prioritize, priorities, planning | 2019 |
Shelving with Dewey - Illinois
This 1 hour self-paced course from LibraryU, a program of the Illinois State Library and the regional library systems is archived by WebJunction. It… more |
Job Specific Volunteer Training | shelve, book shelving, shelver | 2019 |
Planning for Including People with Intellectual Disabilities in Volunteer Programs
A tip sheet created by The Arc to help you to include people with intellectual disabilities in your volunteer program. |
Staff Training | disabilities, diversity, equity, inclusion | 2019 |
Recruitment Success Story - Flagstaff Arizona
In this 4 minute video, Claudine from the Flagstaff library talks about her successes in finding a volunteer to serve as her assistant volunteer… more |
Capacity Building, Engaging High Impact Volunteers | online booksales, Book sale | 2019 |
Volunteer Appreciation Guide
is Volunteer Appreciation Guide is a free resource developed by Wild Apricot to offer tips and advice for volunteer programs just getting started… more |
Capacity Building | recognition | 2019 |
Want to Write a Volunteer Program Annual Report? Here's How to Start
VolunteerMatch blog guest post by Elisa Kosarin. This post originally appeared on Twenty Hats. Your volunteers tell a compelling story. It’s time to… more |
Capacity Building | 2019 | |
How to Write a Strong Reference Letter for a Volunteer
A reference letter showcases a volunteer’s achievements and the skills they’ve gained through volunteering. It can help a volunteer who is looking… more |
Staff Training | recognition, reference letter | 2019 |
Playing by the Rules: Creating an Effective Volunteer Handbook.
This one hour archived webinar was presented by Jennifer Bennett of VolunteerMatch in conjunction with the 4 state Get Involved: Powered by Your… more |
Volunteer Handbooks | policies, handbook | 2019 |
How to Build a Successful Volunteer Program
This brief guidebook was created by the International City/County Management Association. |
Capacity Building, Staff Training | toolkit | 2019 |
NextGen Nexus: A Peek Inside the Millennial Mind
What if you could have a young person authentically share their viewpoint about your social issue and cause? What would they say, and how can you… more |
Millennials | 2019 | |
Do's and Don'ts of Supervising Library Volunteers
This July 2019 article from Public Libraries Online provides an excellent overview of working with volunteers in large and small libraries. |
Capacity Building, Staff Training | supervision | 2019 |
The Ellis Archive - The Susan J. Ellis Foundation
The archive primarily consists of digitized documents from Susan J. Ellis' personal resource library. Focused on Susan’s passion -- the… more |
Staff Training | 2020 | |
Virtual Volunteer Orientation - San Jose CA
This online training was developed to introduce new volunteers to the San José Public Library and provide a basic overview of the volunteer policies… more |
Engaging High Impact Volunteers, Capacity Building | virtual volunteer, virtual, orientation, Volunteer Orientation | 2020 |
Recognizing Racism in Volunteer Engagement - MAVA
Important food for thought from the Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration |
Staff Training, Capacity Building | inclusive, racism, Recruitment, diversity | 2020 |
Virtual Homework Help Coach Online Training - San Jose CA
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, San Jose Public Library moved it's homework help program online. This is the online training they use to train the… more |
Job Specific Volunteer Training | Homework Help, COVID-19 | 2020 |
Systemic Exclusion in Volunteer Engagement
The vast majority of managers of volunteers absolutely abhor deliberate acts of racism and want to be more inclusive. Since they don’t engage in… more |
Capacity Building, Staff Training | racism, inclusive, diversity, Recruitment | 2020 |