A day in the life of being a volunteer at a library and charity shop

So this is kind of a mini update from me in terms of my journey (work-wise). So I recently started volunteering at my local library so I can gain some more skills in terms of boosting my CV and employability. I also decided to volunteer again at my local charity shop which I previously volunteered at in 2019 (before lockdown! 🤯 I know it feels like ages since I volunteered there). As part of this post I'd thought I'd share my daily volunteering routine on here and what it entails as a volunteer. I'll put parts of my routine in different categories under questions to break up what I do in genuine.

Library Volunteering
so what does being a volunteer at a library involve?
So I normally do a morning shift, 10am till 1pm which will be over 4 to 6 weeks i believe (i cant remember how long it is for but i do one day a week) where the manger/mentor will chat to me what tasks I can carry out in the hours I'm there. Then we can also discuss what tasks or activities I want to do myself while I'm there. It is pretty much self lead. A lot of the stuff I do tend to be assisting in putting away toys in the children's section, training on the Dewey decimal system and how to alphabetically order books by authors surname. Recently I have been cutting out paper dragons for the art and craft group for when we do our how to train your dragon day in the library.

What is your favourite part of volunteering in a library?

Ooh this is a hard one for me because to be honest I love all sections of my local library, they are so important as a facility to get books but also get support too. I do love browsing through some of the books but I'm hoping I can help.more people there while I'm on work experience.

How did you get into volunteering?
So how I got into doing this work experience was via my local employment support mentor and the service which runs in the library and around the local areas too. When it comes to getting support normally you either self refer or have someone refer you on your behalf. With me I used to go to a local neurodiversity charity which acted as a hub for young adults to get support, it was while I was searching for employment that one of the support workers referred me to the local employment support service in my area. I was given a mentor who works with me on my goals and sends me on courses. My passion is the tv and film industry but for now I'm trying to find something I can do until I can find my next job in my chosen industry. I mentioned about having an interest in books and it was suggested I could volunteer one a week at the library for a few weeks.

Now onto to the charity shop volunteering!!! 😁😁

You said you volunteered there before, how did you get back into volunteering there?

During my job searching which is ongoing at the moment until I do my internship in September at a local company focusing on marketing and business, I noticed that my local charity shop were looking for volunteers again, one was for a book volunteer and the other a cash desk volunteer. The way it works at the place I volunteer at is that you apply online but you can go into the store and meet the manager and do it there (the manager is an amazing person and they are so friendly and helpful).

After I applied online it took a few days for them to process all of my details and then the manager rung me and told me about having an interview but because I worked there before she said we didn't need to do the interview and that she said I could start working on Saturdays at 10am till 1pm.

What does your role within the shop involve?

So I tend to help out with clothing, sorting, sizing them, putting them out on the shop floor, I also help customers and I take in donations too. I have done some till work but I'm still waiting for my stuff to be processed so I can properly start working the till as my role technically states. I've also done books and cds as well. Being a volunteer you get to do a mixture of various things and it can be super but also a good challenge as well especially if you love sorting and organising.

Whats your favourite part of volunteering at a charity shop?

For me it's helping others and getting to chat to customers. I believe that sometimes having small talk or conversation with your customers including regulars (we get quite a few of them too here) can sometimes make your day feel better and lovelier. For instance back in 2019 when I was helped out on the till with one of the other volunteers and I would always be chatting to customers when they were buying stuff especially clothing (I had a lovely conversation with someone who was going to a vintage festival). Occasionally you do get the odd one or two customers who try to ask for a discount, (yes this is a true story which happened when I first volunteered there in 2019), which gets a few eyebrow raises. But overall, its a good experience and a brilliant place to learn and develop your skills. For me it helps with my confidence and social skills because I often feel like I'm very awkward in terms of talking (though a lot of people say I'm a very good at talking 😂).

So there's my article, post, story? on my volunteering journey and why I do it. If you have read this, wow that's pretty cool actually and I appreciate it

Thought I'd edit this post a bit and add in a section about if you folks have any questions about volunteering or if there is something you want to know more about I'm more than happy to help and discuss it too