Volunteers

The Friends of Tualatin Library have two volunteer opportunities:

Book Sale Co-Chair. The Friends host two community book sales per year, currently in May and November. We are looking for a co-chair to work with the current chair to plan and execute the sales. Responsibilities include publicity, volunteer recruitment, day-of-sale set-up, and close-of-sale shut-down. This job is a good one for those who enjoy event planning and have good communication skills. See our job description for more information.

Book Evaluator. The Friends receive book and media donations from the public throughout the year. Book evaluators review the donations and evaluate them for potential re-sale in our various sale venues. You might enjoy this job if you have good computer skills and a few hours each week to dedicate to this role. See our flyer for more information.

If either of these opportunities sound interesting to you, please contact us.

Virginia Green and Eleanore Mickus don’t mind telling you their ages. Virginia, at left in the photo, is 90, Eleanore 85. We call them our super-senior volunteers, not necessarily because they’re super-old, but because they’re super-friendly, super-talented, and super-active with the Friends.

Virginia and Eleanore team up on Mondays to work on our ongoing booksale in the library. They restock the shelves, update pricing stickers, and process book donations from the public. Eleanore also serves as Vice-President on our Board while Virginia serves as an informal secretary to the Ongoing Booksale Committee. Both of them pitch in with our larger community book and media sales.

Did we mention they’re super-talented? Virginia is an award-winning artist. She’s active in the Wild Over Watercolor artists’ guild and a group of artists that meets weekly on Zoom to support and challenge each other. Eleanore expresses her creative side with quilting. She’s currently working with a Tualatin Historical Society committee to present a three-day quilt show, “The Fabric of our Lives,” which is coming up March 9-11, 2023.

Virginia and Eleanore agree that having a good attitude can make a big difference as you get older. We invite you to say hello to these two super-friendly volunteers when you see them at the Tualatin Library.

We currently have two volunteer opportunities with Friends of the Tualatin Library:

• Book Evaluator – The book evaluator position involves assessing donated books and determining how to utilize and price them for our various sale venues. This is primarily computer work, using a couple of online tools. Volunteers who do this task for the Friends usually work 2-3 hours per week in our workroom at the library. The days/times are flexible and training will be provided by an experienced volunteer.
   
• Newsletter Editor – Do you like to write? The Friends have an opening for Newsletter Editor. You would write/edit stories for the newsletter, monitor emails and comments from readers, and maintain the newsletter mailing list. Our newsletter is in email format using the MailChimp platform. It’s currently published several times per year; the frequency is open to change depending on the volunteer’s availability. This position requires a commitment of 5 to 10 hours per month. You’ll find additional information in the Newsletter Editor job description.

If you’re interested in either of these positions, please contact President Laura Baker at [email protected]

We currently have two volunteer opportunities with Friends of the Tualatin Library:

• Membership Coordinator – If you’re detail oriented, know your way around a basic spreadsheet, and like to work independently from home in your jammies, please consider volunteering as Membership Coordinator. This person keeps track of membership renewals and new members. We are currently using mailings to reach out for renewals, but are open to ideas from a new coordinator to streamline the process. The time commitment during the membership drive is 1-2 hours per week but is minimal the rest of the year. Check out the job description for additional information.        
   
• Newsletter Editor – Do you like to write? Looking for a volunteer opportunity with a fun nonprofit? The Friends have an opening for Newsletter Editor. You would write and edit stories for the newsletter, monitor emails and comments from readers, and maintain the newsletter mailing list. Our newsletter is in email format using the MailChimp platform. It’s currently published several times per year; the frequency is open to change depending on the volunteer’s availability. This position requires a commitment of 5 to 10 hours per month. You’ll find additional information in the Newsletter Editor job description.

If you’re interested in either of these positions, please contact President Laura Baker at [email protected]

At the April 12th Tualatin City Council meeting, the Friends of the Tualatin Public Library organization was recognized as one of Tualatin’s Outstanding Volunteer Groups of 2020. Friends President Laura Baker had this to say:

“It was a tough and challenging year on so many levels, one in which many Friends’ groups around the country were understandably not able to operate at all. During lockdown we kept a low profile as required but eventually, our creative, energetic group of volunteers came up with safe ideas that we were able to implement with the support of library staff. I’m humbled by the honor but it’s well deserved by our group.”

Library Volunteer Coordinator Margaret Gunther sums up our year pretty well: “Seriously, in the year that was 2020, we watched the Friends respond to this crisis like the pros you are. Can’t sell books in the Library? You kept selling them on Amazon. Can’t have seasonal sales in the Library? No matter, you came up with Bag o’ Books and still funded our Tween Readers program! And that’s just the stuff I know about, I’m sure there was so much more going on behind the scenes.”

Friends volunteers were also well represented in the City’s list of Adult Outstanding Volunteers with our own Dee and Don Sitko and Kay Kendall receiving special mention.

Contact us if you’d like to learn about opportunities to volunteer with the Friends.