Guide #14. Recruiting and Training Volunteers
for Church and Synagogue Libraries
Lorraine E. Burson. 2nd Rev. ed. 1999, 24 pages. $9.00, members $7.25
For the congregational library that needs to develop a staff training manual, or improve the one it has, CSLA Guide No. 14, Recruiting and Training Volunteers for Church and Synagogue Libraries, describes all the necessary topics, from finding a great head librarian, to training, supporting and evaluating volunteer workers, to forming an enthusiastic and cohesive team. Helpful charts and forms are included.
Guide 14 was written by Lorraine E. Burson, a longtime congregational librarian and the first graduate of the University of Utah's continuing education course in Church and Synagogue Librarianship in 1978, during her study.
“A question, ‘Has your library developed a staff training manual?’ had my attention. The answer to the question was NO,” Burson writes in the preface. What she wrote in response became the foundation for her library’s manual, and it eventually was published as Guide 14. “It is my prayer that you will find it helpful in organizing and allocating responsibilities as well as recruiting new members for your library staff.”
Table of Contents
1: ENLISTING THE HEAD LIBRARIAN
2: RECRUITING VOLUNTEERS
3: ORIENTING NEW WORKERS
4: METHODS OF TRAINING
5: DELEGATING RESPONSIBILITIES
6: MOTIVATING WORKERS
7: SUPPORTING WORKERS
8: DEVELOPING TEAM SPIRIT
