Volunteer

BOOK DONATION/SALE SUPPORT

Help process withdrawn material and donations for our various fundraising efforts. Tasks include sorting, cleaning, and labeling books; boxing/storing inventory; organizing various book sales. Shifts are generally 2 hours a week. We currently have a variety of shifts available.

HOME DELIVERY

Help support an incredibly valuable program for our community by delivering books to customers who are unable to visit the library on their own. Various delivery routes are scheduled once a month. We currently have two routes needing to be covered, every third and fourth Monday from approximately 10:30-12:00. You may take on one or both of these deliveries. 

STORY LINE

Help out our Youth Services staff with Story Line! Staff and volunteers record themselves reading stories or jokes using the Library's phone system. Customers listen to the recordings by calling the Story Line phone number. Recording on Story Line is very easy to do and can be done comfortably from home. Training is provided. While we welcome anyone interested in helping with this service, we would love to find volunteers who are comfortable reading stories in languages other than English. 

PROJECT SMYLES

Project Smyles is APL’s outreach program to area daycares/preschools focusing on early literacy skills. We serve all the daycares/preschools in the Ames community by providing them with “deposit collections” (small temporary libraries, approx. 50 books each) that remain at each center for a month. Volunteers will assist Youth Services staff by selecting materials based off of pre-planned, early literacy guidelines.  Each volunteer’s level of involvement is flexible as is scheduling. No special experience is needed but an interest in children’s literature or a familiarity with our children’s book collections would be helpful.