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
White Supremacy in Volunteerism - Perfectionism
This video clip was prepared for the Get Involved Initiative by Breauna Dorelus of Connecting the Cause - https://www.connectingthecause.com. After… more
Staff Training White Saviorism, diversity, equity, inclusion, white supremacy 2022
Privilege, Bias and Microaggressions
On Aug 25, 2022 Points of Light and the Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration led a conversation exploring identity, privilege, bias and… more
Capacity BuildingStaff Training privilege, bias, microaggression, diversity, equity, inclusion 2022
VolunteerMatch "Tour"
This is a recording of an online meeting "Tour" provided for incoming AmeriCorps members attached to California Library Literacy Services in December… more
VolunteerMatch Tools and ResourcesStaff TrainingOn-line Volunteer Recruitment VolunteerMatch, Skilled Volunteers, skilled, virtual, virtual volunteer 2022
Creating a Community-Centered Volunteer Orientation
This video clip was prepared for the Get Involved Initiative by Breauna Dorelus of Connecting the Cause - https://www.connectingthecause.com. After… more
Staff TrainingVolunteer Orientation diversity, equity, inclusion, White Saviorism, white supremacy, orientation, Training 2022
QuickStart Guide for New Volunteers
Not a library, but a lovely example to get ideas from.
Volunteer Orientation orientation, handbook 2022
Ways to Appreciate Volunteers Without Centering Them as the Hero
This video clip was prepared for the Get Involved Initiative by Breauna Dorelus of Connecting the Cause - https://www.connectingthecause.com. After… more
Staff Training recognition, diversity, equity, inclusion, White Saviorism, appreciation 2022
Memorializing Volunteer Experiences Without Harming the Community You Serve
This video clip was prepared for the Get Involved Initiative by Breauna Dorelus of Connecting the Cause - https://www.connectingthecause.com. After… more
Staff Training social media, diversity, equity, inclusion, White Saviorism 2022
How to Align Your Mission with Millennials and Civic Engagement
America’s millennials are poised to reshape society to a greater degree than any generation since the Greatest Generation. As 2 million baby boomers… more
Millennials Millennials 2022
Online Book Sale Operation - Mesa AZ
The link below to a 10 minute video will introduce you to the Mesa Public Library's amazing online booksale operation (about $100,000/year) which is… more
Engaging High Impact VolunteersCapacity BuildingJob Specific Volunteer Training online booksales, Friends, Friends of the Library, Booksales 2022
10 Must Have's for a Well-Crafted Volunteer Job Description
Great reminders about what every volunteer job description should contain.
Capacity BuildingStaff Training job descriptions, Position Descriptions 2022
Beyond Younger Volunteers: White Paper on What Rural Friends Groups Need to Thrive
2022 White paper from the Friends of Libraries Section of the New York Library Association.
Capacity Building Friends, rural 2022
Tips to Attract & Retain Skilled Volunteers that Grow Your Nonprofit
Great tips as you venture into the world of skilled volunteers . . .
Engaging High Impact Volunteers Skilled Volunteers 2022
Tools for Volunteer Engagement Success
This one hour archived video was presented by Carla Lehn of the Get Involved: Powered by Your Library initiative for the incoming AmeriCorps members… more
On-line Volunteer RecruitmentVolunteerMatch Tools and ResourcesStaff Training VolunteerMatch, online recruitment 2023
Get Z and Millennials: How They Use Public Libraries and Identify Through Media Use
This 2023 report is organized into five parts:

1. Gen Z library use and non-use.
2. How Gen Z and millennials use media and discover books.
3. Gen Z… more
Capacity Building Gen Z, Millennials 2023
The Four Appreciation Languages -
A nice article from Karen Knight Consulting discussing the various forms of volunteer recognition.
Staff Training recognition 2023
Sensory Story Time Volunteers - Redwood City CA
This one hour webinar was presented for the Get Involved: Powered by Your Library initiative on December 6 2023 by Pam Evans, Youth Services… more
Staff Training Storytime, story time, sensory, disabilities 2023
Shelve-it!
This shelving game could be used as a portion of your training for volunteers who do shelving. -- See also:
https://getinvolvedclearinghouse.org/… more
Job Specific Volunteer Training Shelving, shelver 2023
Volunteer Recognition Ideas
Sixty volunteer appreciation ideas from Keela.com
Staff Training recognition 2023
Library Shelving Quiz
This quiz could be used as part of your training for volunteers who do shelving. See also:
https://getinvolvedclearinghouse.org/training-materials/… more
Job Specific Volunteer Training Shelving, shelver 2023
How to Build a Truly Inclusive Nonprofit Volunteer Program
In 2023, the Assessing Diversity and Equity in Volunteer Involvement (ADEVI) project started with a survey of 564 individuals with a Certification in… more
Staff Training diversity, equity, inclusion 2023