A general description of duties include assisting West Sussex Library Service in the delivery of a range of services to children and their parents and carers. Activities could include:
- Baby Rhyme Time
- Toddler Time
- Storytime
- Story magic sessions
- Construction clubs
- Dungeons and dragons’ groups
The role requires:
- excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- the ability to demonstrate patience and understanding
- good organisational skills
- good literacy and numeracy skills
- being comfortable using IT
The ideal volunteer will:
- have experience of working with children and families
- be interested in books and reading
- enjoy finding out information
- be aged 14+ (14+ is only available in larger libraries)
Your duties will be to:
- support library staff in delivering a weekly Baby Rhyme Time or Toddler Time to under 5s and their parents or carers
- support library staff in delivering a weekly Storytime or Story Magic session to children and their parents or carers
- support library staff to deliver activity sessions to children aged 4+
- encourage families to become regular library users by helping to promote the Library Stars Loyalty Scheme
- attend any relevant training as required
- help staff prepare for and deliver events during school holidays
- help staff clean and check all returned non-book items, for example communication devices and toy library items
- help maintain an exciting, vibrant and tidy children’s library, including work on displays, maintaining stock presentation and let staff know if stock is in poor physical condition
Regularity of duties
All libraries run at least one weekly session for children, so this could be weekly, fortnightly or monthly depending on need. Volunteering opportunities will be dependent on demand in individual libraries.
Guidance and support
Every volunteer will have a named library contact for support and information. Library staff will usually be available during sessions or nearby to help with any questions.
Training and equipment
All library volunteers will receive volunteer induction training (including Health and Safety). On the job training will also be provided by experienced library staff and additional training relevant to the role will be organised periodically as required.
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check
This role does not require a DBS check.
References
One reference will be required before you are accepted for the role. This must be someone who has known you in a personal, work or voluntary capacity for at least 3 years.
Other information
Parental consent is required for volunteers under the age of 16.
All volunteers will be asked to sign a volunteer agreement and may be required to carry out a practical exercise relevant to the role before starting.
Volunteers will be required to wear a lanyard and volunteer ID badge whilst in the library and sign the attendance sheet on arrival and departure (if applicable).
All library volunteers will be encouraged to become a member of West Sussex Library Service and subscribe to the volunteer eNewsletter to keep up to date with their volunteer role and the latest library news.