Keywords public library; Ma Yong Library; Volunteers; voluntary service
Voluntary service refers to the free choice of individuals without coercion, and voluntary service refers to the service provided by anyone who voluntarily contributes personal time and energy to promote human development, social progress and social welfare without material reward. With the continuous development and innovation of public libraries in our city, many town-level public libraries in our city have also begun to try to carry out volunteer service activities. As a town-level public library, Mayong Library has recruited the first batch of volunteers since its establishment in 2008. Up to now, dozens of voluntary service activities have been successfully held and achieved certain results.
1 Status of Voluntary Service in Mayong Public Library
Mayong Library has been carrying out voluntary service for more than four years. Over the years, the library has summed up experience from practical work and constantly improved volunteer service. The voluntary service of the embassy won the hearts of the people and won unanimous praise from the masses. Next, this paper introduces the present situation of voluntary service in Mayong Library from five aspects: personnel structure, service time, pre-job training, job requirements and contents, file management and incentive measures.
1. 1 personnel structure and service hours
Mayong Library began to recruit the first batch of volunteers in 2008, and since then, the number of volunteers and the total service time have been increasing every year (see table 1 for details).
Table1:2011basic information of volunteers in Mayong Library.
Year (year)
As can be seen from the table 1, the personnel structure of volunteers is single. According to statistics, the service time of volunteers is from July to August every year.
1.2 Pre-job training
Mayong Library conducts pre-job training for volunteers recruited in each period, and the training mode is a combination of centralized training and decentralized training. The library invited the leaders of the town volunteer organizations to train the volunteers in theoretical knowledge, and then the staff of the library conducted decentralized training for the volunteers, explaining the basic situation, business process, work content and work skills of the library on the spot.
1.3 job requirements and contents
Mayong Library printed a simple service charter and distributed it to every volunteer during the training. Volunteers should wear a work permit with volunteer logo when participating in service activities, sign in as required and fill in the service time. At work, the staff in the museum requires every volunteer to treat his work with a high sense of responsibility and serve the readers with enthusiasm, thoughtfulness and modesty.
In terms of work assignment, we will assign volunteers to different posts for volunteer service according to their age, specialty and personal intention, including: reference consultation, shelving, book shelving, assisting the library to carry out exhibitions and academic activities, etc.
1.4 file management
Mayong Library collates and files the personal information of each volunteer. Information includes: name, gender, age, major, service intention, etc. At the same time, the staff in the museum will review the daily service time of volunteers and summarize the service time into the archives.
1.5 reward
Mayong Library awards and commends star volunteers and outstanding volunteers every year according to the service time of volunteers and the number of times they participate in activities. In addition to issuing honorary certificates, giving away free library cards and small gifts, they are also organized to visit places full of cultural atmosphere such as Dongguan Library, Dongguan Science and Technology Museum and Guangdong Science and Technology Museum, so that they can increase their knowledge during the visit.
2 the positive significance of library volunteer service
2. 1 Relieve the nervousness of library staff.
It is understood that the readers of town-level libraries are mainly students, and the number of readers in the library increases sharply every holiday. Mayong Library has only seven staff members, divided into four floors and covering an area of about 2,000 square meters. Every summer vacation, voluntary service can alleviate the problem of inadequate service caused by the shortage of library staff.
2.2 Promote the improvement of library service quality.
As a window unit, library service has always been a task that needs to be grasped at all times. The arrival of volunteers makes all on-the-job service personnel have the requirement to restrain their behavior. While leading volunteers to do their daily work, the staff members are also more strict with themselves, setting an example by example, so that volunteers can understand the significance of the work.
2.3 Volunteers become the communication link between librarians and readers.
Volunteers have the dual identities of server and reader. They can collect readers' opinions for the library, reflect readers' reading needs, and transmit, exchange and feedback information in time. At the same time, they can also understand the hard work of library staff and help the library to establish communication channels with readers.
2.4 Volunteers are the best propagandists in the library.
Mayong Library is located in Dabu Village, Mayong, far from the bustling downtown. When the library was first opened, readers didn't know the location and nature of the library, so the number of readers was very small. In terms of publicity, Mayong Library has made a lot of efforts, among which the publicity effect of volunteers is unexpected. Through volunteers telling their relatives and friends about their work experience in the library and publicizing library services, the number of readers in the library has greatly increased in just a few months. In addition, the successful holding of volunteer service activities such as "Volunteer Teaching Activities" and "Happy Reading Club" has enabled more people to understand the library and enter it. As a relatively small town-level library, Mayong Library ranks in the forefront of 32 town-level libraries in the city every year, among which the publicity of volunteers plays a great role.
2.5 Volunteer service is of positive significance to the volunteers themselves.
The volunteers in Mayong Library are all students at school, and their voluntary service has enabled them to accumulate more social experience. The service concept of volunteers is "dedication, friendship, mutual assistance and progress", and they strive to better contribute their love and responsibility to others and society. Volunteer service has cultivated volunteers' ability to adapt to the social environment, the spirit of hard work and the ability to overcome difficulties and survive independently. It has cultivated their ideological character of being willing to do public welfare, helping others and serving others.
3 problems in voluntary service
3. 1 Lack of institutionalized management.
At present, there are no laws and regulations specifically for library voluntary service in China, so the relevant management regulations that public libraries can refer to when introducing and developing voluntary service are very limited. A few libraries have formulated their own volunteer management regulations according to their own requirements, and Mayong Library has formulated a simple volunteer service charter. However, these simple rules and regulations are far from meeting the needs of voluntary work, lacking institutionalized management, and the operation of voluntary service is not standardized, making it difficult to carry out voluntary work in depth.
3.2 Voluntary service lacks financial support.
Volunteer service is free, but its development needs financial support. For example, in volunteer service, there should be special funds to provide volunteers with clothes with volunteer logo, so as to distinguish volunteers from ordinary readers and increase the pride of volunteer work. At the same time, readers should understand the work of volunteers and give them support and help. The library should have special funds to ensure that the library can carry out multi-level volunteer service activities, give full play to the specialties of volunteers, and let volunteer service go out of the library and play a greater social service function.