Volunteer report

Recently, Erica Findley shared some ideas on how to get library experience when you have never worked in a library. I, too was worried about how I would get a library job without any library background.

I am here to tell you that volunteering is a great way to get seasoned in the library world! Since the beginning of this year I have been helping the Jackson Middle School library in SW Portland transition to a new cataloging system. My job is to find and import bibliographic records for books that don’t have one.

So how has working at the Jackson library helped me to be a better prospective librarian?

-Actually doing cataloging hands-one made my cataloging class (LI814, Organizing Information) a lot more immediate and understandable

-You get to make valuable professional contacts

-It’s a great way to help people! Jackson’s library does not have the funding to pay someone to do the

detailed work that I do

-It can broaden your professional portfolio

There are all kinds of volunteer opportunities out there! It’s really worth it to find one that

fits you.

By Gordon Turner,  SLIM-OR SCALA Vice-President

Help PPS

Here’s a wonderful opportunity to get some experience with cataloging and help out Portland Public Schools!

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Portland Public Schools librarians could use your help. Many of us have books in our back rooms that need the holdings to be entered into our catalog. We also just received a large donation of books from Powell’s that need to be entered. It would give you a little experience using the Innovative system. The librarian in the professional library has offered to give a training session for any interested volunteers. The books would also need processing (spine labels, stamping etc.) which I can show you how to do. I will probably start you off in my library and then if you are still hungry for more, I will send out a message to other librarians in PPS. It really is a great opportunity to make some overworked librarians very grateful, get books into the hands of kids, and learn a little about how Innovative works. No original cataloging, I promise!! :)If interested or if you would like more info, contact Stacey Kobe at skobe[at]pps[dot]k12[dot]or[dot]us (email obscured to foil spambots – you can figure it out). Please include contact info and days/hours available so that I can set up a training time that would accommodate the most people.Thanks!

Stacey Kobe

UPDATE:

The training will be held on Friday, Nov. 2nd at 2:00 at the BESC, 501 N Dixon. It should last no more than 2 hours. Still interested in attending, but have not yet signed up? Please contact Stacey Kobe at skobe[at]pps[dot]k12[dot]or[dot]us before Friday (November 2, 2007) so that we are sure to have enough training materials.