Volunteers

DeKalb Coun­ty Pub­lic Library wel­comes the gift of your time to help sup­port and enhance our mis­sion of serv­ing the com­mu­ni­ty. Vol­un­teers play a vital role in our libraries, con­tribut­ing their skills and inter­ests in ways that fit a vari­ety of schedules.

What kinds of vol­un­teer oppor­tu­ni­ties are available?

Vol­un­teer oppor­tu­ni­ties vary by branch, and new ways to get involved may become avail­able at any time. Here are a few of the cur­rent opportunities:

• Gen­er­al Branch Vol­un­teer: Shelves, straight­ens, and orga­nizes shelves. Com­pletes oth­er tasks as instructed.
• Spe­cial Events/​Program Vol­un­teer: Assists with set­ting up for events, greets and signs in patrons, and helps orga­nize library pro­grams, such as the Sum­mer Read­ing Program.
• Friends Vol­un­teer: The Friends sup­port the library in many ways, includ­ing rais­ing funds through book sales. Con­tact your branch’s Friends orga­ni­za­tion about how you can get involved. If your branch does­n’t have a Friends group and you’d like to help start one, talk to your branch librarian.
• High School Required or Work Incen­tive Vol­un­teer: Works with a school, com­mu­ni­ty busi­ness or orga­ni­za­tion doing gen­er­al vol­un­teer work for a short peri­od of time. 

• Tutor­ing Vol­un­teer: We’re look­ing for in-per­son tutor­ing vol­un­teers to sup­port stu­dents at the Tobie Grant Home­work Cen­ter. If you’re inter­est­ed in mak­ing a dif­fer­ence, please apply through our Mind Bub­ble site.
• Teen Advi­so­ry Board (TAB): DeKalb Coun­ty teens ages 14 to 18 years may apply for TAB, a library advi­so­ry board. TAB mem­bers are required to attend and active­ly par­tic­i­pate in month­ly meet­ings and will receive vol­un­teer hours upon active par­tic­i­pa­tion. Appli­ca­tions open August 1 of each year.

What sort of qual­i­fi­ca­tions do I need?

Vol­un­teer place­ments are based on skill, inter­ests, and expe­ri­ence rel­e­vant to each role. The min­i­mum age to vol­un­teer at the library is 14, except for spe­cial, super­vised, and approved group projects. DeKalb Coun­ty and DeKalb Coun­ty Pub­lic Library are proud to be equal oppor­tu­ni­ty employers.

How do I ben­e­fit from being a volunteer?

Apart from the sat­is­fac­tion of giv­ing back to your com­mu­ni­ty, vol­un­teer­ing allows you to learn new skills, meet new peo­ple, and gain valu­able job ref­er­ences. You’ll also get a behind-the-scenes look at how the library oper­ates. High school stu­dents can earn vol­un­teer hours toward school requirements.

How do I become a volunteer?

You can com­plete the online Vol­un­teer Appli­ca­tion or pick up an appli­ca­tion at any branch. If the branch is cur­rent­ly accept­ing vol­un­teers, the vol­un­teer liai­son will con­tact you for an inter­view. Dur­ing the inter­view, we’ll dis­cuss time com­mit­ments and match your skills and inter­ests with the library’s needs. If we pro­ceed, a back­ground check will be con­duct­ed before you begin.

Please note that vol­un­teer oppor­tu­ni­ties may not be avail­able at all branch­es or may be offered inter­mit­tent­ly through­out the year.

Do you accept court ordered or manda­to­ry com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice volunteers?

We do not accept court ordered or manda­to­ry com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice vol­un­teers. We rec­om­mend con­tact­ing Hands on Atlanta or Life­Line Ani­mal Project to com­plete court man­dat­ed com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice hours.