Being a school media center librarian can often be a lonely job. Today’s economic woes have caused some K-12 librarians to be the lone members of their team. Even when schools can afford to keep the doors to their media center open, it’s only for a few hours. This means that many part-time school librarians are still held responsible for the full-time job of running an entire media center. School librarians often put in far more hours than covered by their salaries just to keep their media centers afloat.

To overcome this obstacle, a librarian can employ several volunteer recruitment strategies. Those on the frontlines know that students and parents love to volunteer at the media center, but students demand a great deal of oversight and parents are often spread too thin. If this is the case at your school, turning to other community members can be well worth the time and energy that you invest.

Community groups, such as Kiwanis, Rotary, and your local Chamber of Commerce, are great places to start although you may find that you’ll have to attend several meetings before being able to make a volunteering ask of the organization’s members. Businesses in your community can also be a rich source of volunteers.

For example, banks are charged with giving back to their communities with time and money through the Community Reinvestment Act. Consider inviting a bank employee to read a story about saving money or helping you to write the budget for a funding grant. Employment agencies, such as Manpower, are passionate about teaching workforce skills, and larger companies, like General Electric, allow employees to volunteer while still being paid.

Aside from reading stories to children or helping with the never-ending task of shelving, volunteers from the community can become advocates for the school library. They can help you write volunteering manuals, recruit others to pitch in, and even plan fundraising efforts.

What experience do you have with volunteer recruitment for your media center or library? Please include tips or advice to help us keep our school media centers thriving!

As a public k-5 school library media teacher I could not do my job without my volunteers. My assistant is increasing pulled for other school tasks but I know I'm lucky to have an assistant at all.

I loved your suggestions for finding volunteers outside of the usual overstretched parents. Here are a few suggestions of my own:

Parents of former students - One of my best volunteers has come once a week even after her students moved on. (they are both in high school now).

Retired school employees - I'm lucky my former assistant loved her job so much! She continues to come back and help out. Just don't ask her to wake up early anymore

Community members looking for jobs in education - Volunteering in a school library can be a great way to be seen and remembered when those few job openings do show up. Get the word out to substitutes, recent graduates, etc.