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 |
---|---|---|---|
Grow Staff Volunteer Harmony
Tips from Energize Inc. on helping staff to work more productively with volunteers. |
Engaging Staff and Unions | staff buy-in | 2018 |
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 |
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 |
Engagement as a Path to Inclusion and Justice
This brief article from Beth Steinhorn at VQ Strategies outlines 4 questions we can all ask ourselves for developing and implementing a plan that… more |
Capacity Building, Staff Training | inclusive, racism, diversity | 2020 |
Moving Forward: Taking Action on Race and Equity
On Nov 19, 2020 the Points of Light Foundation hosted the first conversation in their Listen. Learn. Act to End Racism initiative, in partnership… more |
Staff Training | equity, inclusion | 2020 |
Adopt-A-Shelf Job List - Cedar Rapids Public Library IA
This is the Job List for volunteers who "Adopt-A-Shelf" at the Cedar Rapids Iowa Public Library. A related document is the Adopt-A-Shelf… more |
Job Specific Volunteer Training | Shelving | 2020 |
Why Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Matter for Nonprofits
This article from the National Council of Nonprofits not only describes the issue, but suggests ways to start making changes, and provides a number… more |
Capacity Building, Staff Training | racism, diversity, inclusion | 2020 |
Power, Privilege, and Volunteerism
Volunteerism can reinforce patterns of power and privilege (whites and people of means as volunteers, and communities of color or those without means… more |
Staff Training | equity, inclusive, inclusion | 2020 |