Teen Volunteers -- Sign Ups

One of the first items of business I wanted to get organized was our teen volunteer program. There were a few major issues with the way the program was currently run and I had many staff members expressing their frustration with it. I wanted to streamline it and make it a bit easier to organize.

At my library, we do not currently do many teen programs -- in other words, planning programs/events for teens to come to. However, I am in charge of a teen volunteer program where the teens come to help me with my School-Age programs. 

My peer librarian had been allowing teens to sign up for shifts whenever they wanted and any day of the week they wanted. This caused issues if there were other staff members running the program since they never were quite sure if there would be teens helping them or working with them that day. And, if there were teens signed up, they did not always show up. 

They would also sign up for different days, leading to confusion since the teens that might show up to volunteer may have never volunteered that day before and needed more help than the staff member could supply. In other words, if you have the same teens with you at the same program they know how to help every week or what is expected of them.


Things I will be implementing:
1. I created a contract that the teens and parents have to sign stating that if they do not inform staff they will not be present, they will be removed from the volunteer program after the 3rd time. Each time it happens, they AND their parents will be given a warning until the 3rd time when they will be told they are no longer part of the program.

2. For the 'orientations', or information sessions about the teen volunteer program, I am strongly encouraging (almost requiring) parents to attend. I want parents involved in the making of the schedule so they know when their kids have signed up to be at the library.

3. Making teens choose ONE shift on ONE day of the week and remain on that day throughout an entire three-month program session. Having a reliable schedule that parents and teens can count on helps everyone. Also, staff will know exactly which teens will be there each week.

4. Putting teens on the staff schedule. Our adult volunteers are on the schedule, as are our pages and our staff...the one piece missing is the teen volunteers. If we have the same teens each week, we should be able to put their names on their shift for each week, thereby creating open communication about the teen volunteer program with the entire library staff.


So we'll see how all the changes work as they go into effect. I have three orientations over the next week, and I'm excited to be a part of all of these changes to the program. I'm still sad about leaving my position as the storytime librarian, but I feel like I have huge areas to grow in this new age-group!