xviii Preface 21st Century Librarian Program to test implementation of the “maximum,” “great” and “good” approaches. As of this writing, the collaborative project is in its second year, providing good, great, or maximum levels of training and support to libraries in their states. Their second target audience is other state libraries, with whom results will be shared. The project has potential for broad national significance if the matrix can be demonstrated to assist states to increase library volunteerism. SUMMARY Many libraries offer “traditional” volunteer jobs only—book shelver, book mender, and shelf duster. Unfortunately, those jobs have limited appeal to today’s volunteer. Although some will continue to volunteer for those tasks, others see themselves sharing their expertise, and have a host of skills they are willing to share. To attract these volunteers and turn them into a natural support system for the library, traditional volunteer programs will need to retool their approach using researched success strategies for volunteer engagement. Libraries can and should be using volunteer service as a strategy for com- munity engagement. When successfully engaged, many volunteers naturally become library supporters and advocates. People who feel part of the library family, who understand its issues, and understand the important role it plays in the community, will advocate for it, promote it, and help to recruit both financial and human resources. The techniques and skills shared in this book can help your library achieve these successes. New library volunteers can be counted on to develop additional commitments to the library as ambassadors, supporters, and advocates. If you think these successes are only pos si ble in a big state like California and couldn’t be replicated in your city, county, or rural library community, please think again. Literally hundreds of libraries of all sizes in four states are as of this writing actively engaged in applying the concepts in this book in their own local communities. A couple of small libraries in Texas have recently inspired me. The direc- tor of a library with a service population of 5,000 confessed that she is “IT challenged,” so she posted her need for a skilled computer volunteer on Vol- unteerMatch. Within two weeks she got a call from a man and his partner new to the community who were opening an IT support business there. He had seen her need when the LinkedIn/VolunteerMatch partnership offered it up to him and couldn’t wait to get started. They now troubleshoot the computers at the library every other week for 2 hours, and patrons are com- menting on the improvement. Now that the library is receiving a grant-funded maker space, these two skilled volunteers have also volunteered to help rede- sign the space for the equipment’s use and storage.
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