{"id":12926,"date":"2016-04-20T00:01:42","date_gmt":"2016-04-20T04:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=12926"},"modified":"2025-05-27T16:48:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T20:48:42","slug":"12926","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2016\/04\/12926\/","title":{"rendered":"Create New Community Partnerships With A Volunteer Fair"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Later this spring our library will be hosting its first ever Volunteer Fair.&nbsp; We are so excited for this event as it brings value to the community and lays the foundation for new partnerships with many local organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We considered a volunteer fair for our community for several reasons.&nbsp; First, our library is fortunate to be located in a village that is dedicated to civic service and philanthropy.&nbsp; This event is also a great way for us to target and engage two elusive age groups for us\u2013 tweens and teens.&nbsp; Finally, a volunteer fair supports one of our library\u2019s missions: \u201cto act as a responsive resource for lifelong learning.\u201d&nbsp; We hope a successful fair will further strengthen the library\u2019s position as a vital center of the community and create lasting partnerships with local organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Finding and securing participants in the fair has been a great education in the breadth of service opportunities available.&nbsp; If you\u2019re interested in holding a Volunteer Fair, here are a few tips to get you started:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Begin with existing partnerships.\u00a0 Does the library partner with any other local organizations for programming or outreach efforts?\u00a0 Does your Friends group use volunteers?\u00a0 Does your library display flyers or brochures from organizations that could use volunteers?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Collaborate with colleagues.\u00a0 Are any coworkers actively volunteering?\u00a0 Or do they have a connection to an organization in need?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Look at which other organizations are present at community events. Farmer\u2019s Markets and festivals are a great way to make contact and learn about other local organizations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Research national organizations that may have a local chapter nearby in need of volunteers.\u00a0 These can include: American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, Alzheimer\u2019s Foundation, National Multiple Sclerosis Society and many others.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Perform an online search to see what opportunities are available in your area and contact those organizations directly about your event.\u00a0 Websites like <a href=\"http:\/\/www.volunteermatch.org\/\">volunteermatch.org<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/createthegood.org\/\">createthegood.org<\/a> are a good place to start.\u00a0 Also your community\u2019s website may list opportunities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Enlisting participants may seem like a daunting task, but the mutual benefits of a volunteer fair encourage involvement and support.&nbsp; The organization is able to recruit volunteers and increase public awareness of their mission while the library is able to connect its patrons with meaningful service opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">************************************************************************<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-today-s-post-was-written-by-sophie-kenney-sophie-is-a-children-s-librarian-at-the-glencoe-public-library-and-is-currently-serving-on-the-alsc-liaison-to-national-organizations-committee\">Today&#8217;s post was written by Sophie Kenney. Sophie is a Children&#8217;s Librarian at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.glencoepubliclibrary.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Glencoe Public Library<\/a> and is currently serving on the ALSC Liaison to National Organizations committee.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-nbsp\">&nbsp;<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A volunteer fair is able to recruit volunteers and increase public awareness of their mission while the library is able to connect its patrons with meaningful service opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":212,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[728,38],"tags":[259],"class_list":["post-12926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogger-building-partnerships-committee","category-programming-ideas","tag-volunteers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/212"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12926\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}