Library Volunteers Recognized By Arlington County
Library volunteer Deborah Jones received an individual award and Talking Books and Homebound Services received a team award.
The County’s Outstanding Volunteer of the Year awards are presented each spring by the County Board chair at the start of a board meeting. All County departments may nominate individuals or teams for an award, so competition is stiff!
At the County’s Outstanding Volunteer of the Year award ceremony (from L-R): Debbie Jones, Patrick Syring, Yvonne Bagnell, Mary Clair Gildea, Ira Meiselman. Not pictured: Jackie Borgel and Kel Burt.
Meet Our Winners
Debbie Jones
Deborah Jones manages the book collection used by nine book discussion clubs sponsored by the Library.
She distributes copies of a title to each group monthly and checks-in returned items. Each quarter, she sends out a call for new title suggestions, compiles the input and sends the list out for each group for a vote. Winning titles are purchased for the Book Discussion group collections. Debbie’s self-direction and efficiency support the Library’s mission to promote the joy of reading, dialogue and community gatherings for adults. Her work allows copies of books to be shared among the groups at a tremendous saving and frees paid staff for other services.
Talking Books volunteers Patrick Syring, Yvonne Bagnell and Kel Burt
The Talking Books and Homebound Services team won for their work in providing books for those who are visually and/or physically challenged.
The Library provides access to the Talking Books program sponsored by the Library of Congress’s National Library Services for the Blind and the Physically Handicapped. For those who use senior centers, books they request are brought to the center especially for them to check out and everyone at the centers are welcome to join the book discussions sponsored by the Library, using books in our book discussion collection. For each service, team members complete a myriad of tasks that paid staff couldn’t accomplish in a timely manner.
Interested in becoming a Library volunteer? Check out the Current Openings on our Volunteer Page.