Volunteers: meet our volunteers

More than One Way to Love Books

We all know that Library books are tough, but sometimes they just can’t take any more handling, or another slide down the book drop, and they start falling apart.

What happens then? If the Adult Collection Development Librarian decides the damaged book should be put back into circulation, volunteer Beth Lewis is one of the people whose expertise we depend on.

Putting a book back together takes a specialized set of skills, and is especially important for very expensive or out-of-print book.

The work requires special tools and materials, lots of patience and incredible attention to detail. Fortunately for the Library, Beth studied book repair and binding under the former head of the Rare Book Repair Division of the Library of Congress. Beth got into book repair to learn to sew musical scores for her husband, who is a conductor.

Over the 6 years that she has volunteered at Central Library, Beth estimates her team has repaired over a thousand books. “We consider ourselves book healers, kind of like doctors for books,” she said. “First you do a thorough exam, analyze what’s wrong, and then plan the best approach. You need to be brave because many of the books need to be totally disassembled into their component parts before repair can even begin,” she explained.

Tools of the Book Repair trade:

“Book repair is basically a very solitary job and you must be extremely focused. But, it is so rewarding after you pull a book apart and put it back together so it can be returned to the shelves and people can enjoy it once again. It’s like saving a life,” she said.

Beth’s work shows that there is more than one way to love books. “I’ve been obsessed with libraries my whole life,” she said. “I love books, even though it’s hard for me to read because I have very bad dyslexia.”

Adapted from the original column by Volunteer Newsletter reporter Maureen Quinn.

 

Interested in becoming a Library volunteer? Check out the Current Openings on our Volunteer Page.

 

Supporting Their Community, and Finding New Books

Alexis Cox and Sandi Fox started volunteering at the Shirlington Branch Library in 2006, when it occupied a small temporary space on the lower level of Shirlington Village – which also happened to be the first floor of their office building.

When we asked them why they enjoy spending their free time at the Library, they said that because Shirlington is a busy branch, they always feel like their volunteer work is needed and appreciated. And Sandi added, “The public library is a vital and wonderful institution – I want to do my part to support it.”

What’s your favorite thing about the library?

Alexis: I love discovering new books and revisiting old favorites. My reading list has grown by leaps and bounds since I’ve been volunteering.
Sandi: Free books of course!!

How did you meet?

We met through our day jobs, working at the PBS NewsHour in Arlington. Alexis is a Reporter/Producer and Sandi is the NewsHour’s one and only Research Librarian.

What do you do when you’re not volunteering?

Alexis: I love to read, watch movies, listen to music, visit art museums, and practice yoga.
Sandi: Ride my bike, bake, take walks, and of course read.

Are you Metro DC natives or transplants?

Alexis: I’m a transplant from Chesapeake, Va.
Sandi: Transplant from Michigan.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Alexis: Happy, healthy, and well-traveled.
Sandi: A space veterinarian.

What is the best book you’ve read recently?

Alexis: The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
Sandi: written: Traveler of the Century by Andres Neuman / audio: Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier

What’s the best movie you’ve seen recently?

Alexis: Argo
Sandi: Lincoln

 

Interested in becoming a Library volunteer? Check out the Current Openings on our Volunteer Page.

 

Humphrey and Cynthia Power win the Outstanding Volunteer Award!

Paws-to-Read has very successfully brought a love of reading to many children in our area, and would not be possible without Humphrey and Cynthia.  

Paws-to-Read is offered throughout each month, at six library locations.

 

After the Award Ceremony, I had a chance to interview Humphrey about his amazing accomplishment.

KAREN: How does it feel to win Arlington County’s Outstanding Volunteer Award?

HUMPHREY: I am VERY honored to be given an outstanding volunteer award by Arlington County. It was pretty great to go to the award ceremony and meet the Chairman of the County Board. He is very nice. He gave my Mom a special plaque and a pin – which she likes very much. He didn’t have any dog treats though. So, I was most happy that my friends at the Library also came to the ceremony and brought me a special reward of tasty dog cookies!

KAREN: How did you celebrate?

HUMPHREY: A lot of my human friends came to see us get the award. Then we went out to a restaurant for a party! It was great because I could be on the patio with all the people and my dog friend, Watson. He and I got a few tastes of bacon too!

KAREN: Why do you volunteer?

HUMPHREY: It is pretty fun to go to the library when you are a dog! It is a special privilege for me. I get to listen to children reading great stories. I also really like it when the children pet me while they are reading. My Mom says that the children become better readers when they read aloud and a lot. I can tell that is true. Some of my friends have been coming to read to me for almost a year, and every time they come, their voices are stronger and they make fun sounds too.

KAREN: How did you get started with Paws to Read?

HUMPHREY: It all started when I wanted to be a therapy dog to visit people and have them pet me. There were only a few places around Arlington to visit and I wanted to do more. My Mom found out about other programs where children read to dogs and she talked to the Arlington Libraries about it. Everybody liked the idea. So we got started. The nicest thing is listening to the children’s good reading voices. I really like it when they make the characters sound different.

KAREN: What’s your favorite thing to do?

HUMPHREY: Well, of course, going to the library to listen to stories is pretty great. But I also like to play catch-the-ball a lot. I have perfected a few catch-in-the-air moves. Now that it is getting warmer there will be more ball playing and maybe I can go swimming in the pool too! I also like going to the beach and watching movies with dogs in them at home.

KAREN: What’s your favorite snack?

HUMPHREY: I am pretty fond of almost all dog cookies – especially the kind from the dog bakery. But my favorite treat is the very first human food I every tried – Blue Cheese! It all started with just a little mistake on my part. You see, my Dad had a salad with blue cheese dressing on it and he left it on the table for a few minutes, so I thought I would see what he liked to eat and took just a little taste. It was delicious! Now I know I am not allowed to take food from the table. I just forgot that one time. My humans must have forgiven me because I sometimes get just a tiny piece of blue cheese when I am being especially good.

KAREN: Do you have a book recommendation?

HUMPHREY: Have you seen all the books at the library??? There must be a million of them! I like it when I get to hear new stories and I like it when I hear the same story again. I guess my favorite stories are one’s with dogs in them like the Biscuit and Marley books. Of course, my very favorite one is about a dog that learns to read. It is called, How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills. You should check it out!

Thanks for all of your help with Paws-to-Read, Humphrey!

 

Paws-to-Read is a partnership between the Library and PAL (People Animals Love), a local animal therapy organization. You can learn more about why reading to dogs helps children become better readers from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

 

Hooray For Our Volunteers!

In order to create more growing space for our AFAC Plot Against Hunger garden at Central Library, we decided to transfer some of the decorative plants from the Quincy Street entrance, and replace them with vegetables. But first, we had to do some serious digging and shoveling…

Luckily five Marines from Henderson Hall – along with their families – were happy to help!

Our head gardener reports, “The Marines took on this hard physical task with very little need of guidance and organized themselves and the project into an amazingly efficient unit, finishing the whole area including clean up, in 2.5 hours. They were awesome!”

 

Learn more about Gardens at the Library. 

 

Congratulations!

Each year Arlington County names several deserving individuals and teams as Outstanding Volunteer for the year.

The competition is always stiff because people from all County departments are eligible to win. For 2013, Library staff nominated three teams and three individuals for this award – a testament to the value we place on Library Volunteers and the excellent work they do.

Of those nominated this year by the Library, one individual and two teams won! The Outstanding Volunteer winners from the Library are…

 

Cynthia Power

Individual award for introducing, coordinating, facilitating and growing the Paws-to-Read program.

Paws-to-Read began in March 2011 with Cynthia and her therapy dog Humphrey coming to Central Library for two sessions a month. The programs were so successful that this year, six of our eight locations sponsor PAWS-to-Read sessions. Cynthia recruits and schedules the P.A.L. volunteers who participate in the program along with their therapy dogs, and collaborates with Library staff to ensure the sessions run smoothly.

 

The Central Library Computer Volunteers

Team Award

Members of the Computer Volunteer Team staff the computer help desk on the second floor for nearly all of the 66 hours a week Central is open. Many help people using the public PCs, while others teach or assist in the CyberCenter’s Technology Training classes. In addition, the time and talents of this team have enabled the Library to add a new TechTalk series of classes, describing current technology and applications.

The team members include: Alice Tanoue, Andrea Mullen, Anne Lange, Eva G, Judith Karinshak, Ben Schmoker, Richard Airhart, Anne Griffith, David Hough, Dennis Wright, John Hession, John Bowers, Lisa, and Susan Dennis.

 

Circulation Unit Volunteer Trainers

Team Award

Gilbert Leigh – a Central Library welcome desk staffer – and Dan Dixon – who helps people use the self-checkout machines at Central – both train new volunteers for their respective positions. They were the first volunteers at  Central to have this responsibility, and the perspective they provide to new volunteers is invaluable. In addition, they have been very successful at bringing new volunteers into the Library.

National Volunteer Week begins April 21.

 

Interested in becoming a Library volunteer? Check out the Current Openings on our Volunteer Page.