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4 Making the Most of Teen Library Volunteers community engagement, the library is not the first ­thing that comes to mind. It is our job to insert ourselves into ­ t hose conversations. Invite ­ t hose groups to come to the library. Sometimes volunteer proj­ects that ­aren’t appealing to individual groups are a lot more appealing when they can work together, and you might find that you get more participation ­because you encouraged them to come with friends. While it is amazing that we are able to provide support to ­these institu- tions in our community, one of the greatest assets we have is that we are not directly connected to any religious institutions. ­ T here are a number of teens who would love to volunteer their time but do not have the oppor- tunity to ­ because they are not involved in any activities where volunteer- ing your time and community engagement are part of the mission of the organ­ization. We provide a unique opportunity to give back without having a specific religious mission. We can be ­ t here for ­those patrons who want to volunteer and make their communities better but ­don’t have a church that they can turn to as a resource. WORKING WITH SCHOOLS ­ Don’t forget ­ t hose schools. We are ­ t here to do book talks and get every­ one excited for summer reading? Why not go ­ t here to support other efforts as well? Is ­there a volunteer or community engagement program in the school you work with? Even better, are you in the library at that school? Help to support them with space, resources, research, or ideas. (Also, just a personal ­ f avor, please reach out to your local teen librarian. They would love to collaborate and work with you and understand that your time is precious and ­limited. Let’s support each other, okay? Okay. Thanks.) If you are close to a university (or in a university), ­there are a number of ser­vice fraternities and sororities that are always looking for volunteer opportunities. A number of the Greek letter organ­izations also have ser­ vice as the foundation for their organ­ i zations. We ­ w ill discuss this further in Chapter 6, “Volunteer Partnerships.” One of the most prevalent and consistent of ­these in schools is the National Honor Society (NHS). One of the pillars of the National Honor Society is ser­vice. Students are required to complete community ser­vice over four months (generally between November and February when appli- cations are due). ­ T here is no set number of hours. Rather, the number of hours required is set by the local chapters. If ­there is an NHS chapter near you, reach out to them and tell them you have teen volunteer opportuni- ties available. They often keep a list of local organ­ i zations where applicants can get ser­vice hours.