Ever wanted to be a Book Doctor? How about a Multicultural Consultant? Heritage Sleuth? You can through the Arlington Public Library's volunteer program, which has gained state and national praise for its quirky approach to attracting community assistance.
The library recently received two public relations awards for its "Become a Part of Our Story: Volunteer!" campaign, started in 2011 to appeal to a cross section of individuals with differing needs.
The library received the John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award for the campaign, only one of eight to receive the award nationwide. The honor is sponsored by EBSCO, the H.W. Wilson Foundation and the Library Leadership and Management Association, a division of the American Library Association. The Foundation awards $10,000 to each winning library. The program's campaign also won top honors in the Public Relations Plan category of the Texas Library Association's Public Relations Branding Iron Awards.
To promote the volunteer campaign, the Arlington Public Library created an informational booklet, posters, bookmarks and flyers. The library's web pages were revised to incorporate the new volunteer theme, information about volunteer opportunities were placed on the digital signs within the libraries and more than 30,000 emails were sent to the library's customer base. Individuals can indicate their interests and sign up to online.
The library volunteer hours increased by 112 percent during 2011 as a result of the campaign efforts.
For more information about the volunteer program, please visit www.arlingtonlibrary.org/volunteer.
Volunteer
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