Volunteer Coordinator

Save to Favorites

The volunteer in this position recruits, selects, trains and schedules library volunteers who skillfully help patrons use library resources to fulfill their needs.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• Volunteer Recruitment:
• Reviews and understands the library’s mission, goals and culture, and identifies selling points to use in recruitment.
• Identified positions to recruit for and drafts position description for Volunteer Committee review.
• Identifies strategies for recruiting volunteers with specific skills and the materials necessary to carry out these and other recruitments.
• Advertises for needed volunteers through social media, public speaking, print, and networking.
• Volunteer Selection and Placement:
• Maintains and adapts procedures for interviewing potential volunteers to obtain information needed for (that assures) appropriate placement and utilization of knowledge/skills/abilities.
• Ensures that needed information about each volunteer is recorded.
• Ensures that volunteers fill out required forms and sign required documents.
• Circulation Desk Training:
• Develops and adapts a training program for circulation desk volunteers using a variety of modalities.
• Develops and maintains training tools.
• Provides on-the-job training and identifies other volunteers who can effectively provide training.
• Monitors the effectiveness of training and identifies additional training needed needs.
• Retention:
• Provides informal recognition (positive reinforcement) and feedback to circulation desk volunteers.
• Works with the Volunteer Committee on recognition events and awards.
• Provides semi-formal feedback to each volunteer on their annual volunteering anniversary.
• Circulation Desk Scheduling:
• Schedules volunteers to staff the circulation desk according to the schedule approved by the Board of Directors.
• Maintains a list of circulation desk substitutes and trains volunteers to use it as needed.
• Monitors performance of circulation desk volunteers.

• Recordkeeping:
• Maintains contact information about each volunteer in an electronic repository available at all times to the Library Manager and Volunteer Committee.
• Maintains documents and information related to the library’s volunteers in the library’s cloud drive with appropriate security.
• Maintains records of volunteer criminal background checks, signatures on key documents, assignments and performance in a secure location.

Key Working Relationships:

The Volunteer Coordinator works under their own initiative and in consultation with the Library Manager, Executive Committee and is a member of and works in cooperation and consultation with the Volunteer Committee.

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

1. Ability to maintain patron and volunteer privacy and confidentiality.
2. Strong customer service skills with the ability to maintain a positive image of the library in attitude and communications while performing circulation desk duties.
3. Strong interpersonal and supervisory skills.
4. Strong writing skills, a working knowledge of social media and the ability to speak before small groups.
5. Ability to work independently to identify needs and draft action plans, while working cooperatively with the Library Manager and oversight committees.
6. Knowledge of basic clerical skills and ability to operate a variety of equipment including computer, printer, cash register, credit card terminal and copy machines.