Dear LMnetters,
Enough people requested the hits to my question in regards to thanking
volunteers that I thought I would just pass it on to the whole list. What
follows it a complete (I hope:-) list of hits. Again, many thanks for the
great suggestions.
Angelika Ross, Librarian
Oakland Christian School
Auburn Hills MI
ah1300@wayne.edu
I had great luck this year with a bookmark, personally and economically made
for each volunteer (I have 60). I took a digital picture of each
volunteer's child (or children) in the library "reading" a favorite book.
This took a few moments a day for about two weeks. Then I created a
bookmark in a graphics program "Thanks for booking me into your schedule.
I'm glad you were here." was my caption and I put a decorative border around
it. 5 to a page; landscape printed. Between the two sentences (top large,
bottom small) I pasted the picture of the child, about 1"x2" (or smaller).
Before laminating the bookmarks, I brought them to the classrooms and had
every child in the class sign the back - after all, each student enjoyed the
care and concern of the parents who helped them. Laminate and deliver and
WOW what a response!
I told this story to a woman on vacation in Jamaica recently. She
laughed and pulled a bookmark with her son's photo on it - made in school 5
years ago. Beaten up and beloved.
Our school holds a volunteer "breakfast" with muffins, bagels, danish, etc.,
coffee, tea and juice. To cut costs each teacher who forwards names of
volunteers provides a plate of goodies for the breakfast. The school
provides the drinks. Each class in elementary then makes something that can
act as a gift that is then presented to each volunteer. Items in the past
have included plants grown from seed, custom-made bookmarks, and collages.
We hold it in the library from 7:30 - 9:00 in the morning and invite all
interested parties (volunteer and staff) to drop in anytime during the
session to chat with each other. We have a junior-high special needs class
that organizes this event every year as part of their life-skills unit. It
works well and everyone always has a nice time.
I checked my favorite recipe site www.allrecipes.com and found they have =
lots of cookie in a jar recipes.
If you don't want to follow the links (click on "cookie" first), this =
URL should take you to the cookie in a jar recipes.
http://allrecipes.com/cb/kh/cookie/jar/default.asp
Here is a great book to use for these projects:
Title: Gifts in a jar : cookies, recipes to make your own gifts.
Publication info: Waverly, IA : CQ Products, c2001.
A tea for volunteers. Be sure to recognize them in your school newsletter
or any other public way (website too). A personal thank you note, hand
written. Even better if you do stamping etc. and create your own
notes. Any handmade/homemade item. Dedicate a book in the library with a
bookplate for each volunteer, or for every so many volunteer hours so that
those who work more hours receive more recognition.
Why not pass this on to your students as a problem-solving activity.
Will heav more meaning for the volunteers if it comes from the kids, is
a good way to cover off organisational/teamwork outcomes as an
educational activity for the kids and raises the profile of the Library
and the amount of work actually performed by volunteers rather than
staff.
We do a volunteer luncheon for all. Another nice idea are theme basket
gifts (stationary, gardening, reading, etc.- we've done these for
fundraisers as well as gifts for boss's day. Sometimes you can find
inexpensive items at the dollar stores. Food places are usually willing to
donate coupons, etc. You can arrange items nicely in cheap baskets, add some
ribbons, wrap in clear cellophane, and they look like a millon bucks. Hope
this helps some.
We always have a luncheon buffet for the volunteers with food provided by
the faculty and have the first grade perform a little song. Students make
placemats in art class thanking the volunteers which are laminated and then
can go home with the moms. Any gifts are usually very small--spring flowers
(we have a parent who owns a nursery/greenhouse) or herbs--"To thank you
all of the time you have given us we would like to give some thyme to you".
One of the things we do here at our school is have a special day set
aside for the volunteers who have helped during the year. Every teacher
brings some home cooked food item (casserole, pastry, bread, etc.) and
we invite these wonderful people for a work free day with lunch.
Sometimes they also receive small (very small) gifts from individual
teachers if that volunteer has worked with one certain teacher. An
article with pictures is sent to the local newspaper praising them and
letting the community know about the volunteer program in the school.
We take them out to lunch at a nice place at the end of the year and we give
them a little something - a book mark? a book certificate? The first time we
did this we did the lunch at my house and shared the cooking chores between
us. The volunteers love being thanked in this way for all the boring jobs
they do for us.
I have several ideas.
1. Have a breakfast or luncheon in the library for them
2. I have given bookmarks as gifts
3. I have given small potted flowers they can transfer to their garden.
4. I order Christmas pins from Oriental Trading Co. I think they were a
dozen for $10.
We have gotten "cheap" but very appreciated stuff from Highsmith. Last
year, I
found a 365 things for parents to do with their kids instead of t.v. kind of
book at a bargain book store for cheap. We have a luncheon at the end of
the
year to thank the volunteers, which does come out of our budget and/or our
petty
cash, and then we present these token gifts.
I find that most volunteer moms are readers, so maybe giving them a
package of book plates would be nice. I've seen bookplates in library
catalogs or at Barnes & Noble. Demco offers to customize them for you.
I have:
-bought an ad in the school yearbook
-given cups with tea bags, coffee, hot chocolate
-given boxes of candy at Valentines
-BUT the best gift I've given is a personal note thanking the person and
mentioning what they have done that I truly appreciate (come every week,
learned the children's names, put books away carefully, stamped books-
whatever they did-) specific praise reaps more benefits than a pay check!!
Does your school have an Art class?
These kids could design some beautiful thank you notes
(or even sets of note cards as a thank you gift).
A small tea and cookie party is always appreciated.
I have a volunteer luncheon in the library in June. My library technician
and I prepare all the food, set the table with pretty tablecloth, napkins,
etc. and generally just treat the volunteers like royalty. We also give
them little gifts at Christmas and during Volunteer Appreciation week. I
also make a point of thanking them each and every time they come in so
they know they are greatly appreciated.
I've done a small luncheon in the past nothing too elaborate. In the past
I've gotten a deli to fix sub rings and served soft drinks. One year I gave
each volunteer a small flowering plant.
i! I'm sure you are aware of the many gift items available through the
different Library supply venders like Demco or Upstart. I am in the same
quandry although I don't have a good core of volunteers I do have one or two
and I am also thinking of end of the year presents. Looking at my Upstart
catalog, I see a variety of coffee cups starting at $6.95. Other less
expensive items include embroidered bookmarks at $1.95 each and note pads
for $5.95. You can check them online at www.highsmith.com
If you have a theme like "growing with books," then you could always give
each volunteer a plant!
A luncheon and appreciation certificates. A luncheon is an immediate
gratification, token of thanks. The certificates are something they can
hang on to and its a record of their "unpaid employment" that they can add
to a resume for future reference. Also guarantee them a good reference
should they ever need it or write up one that they can keep for future use.
I was a volunteer for 5 years in my children's school before returning to
the work force in a new career, and the lunch is something I remember and
cherish as a thank you and the mention of the experience and references for
job placements have been a lifesaver.
I try to have a luncheon - very simple and usually in
the library. You could just do a morning coffee or an
afternoon tea.
I also give some kind of token gift: coffee mugs with
school or library logo if budget will stretch. (ALA
or Upstart catalog) If not, I found some lovely paper
bookmarks at the local book store. I think they were
$1.95 ea.
hen I was the librarian at an elementary school with a lot of parent
volunteers, we had an appreciation tea for all the school volunteers in the
spring or towards the end of the school year (not June; June is usually
harried enough as it is!) If every teacher bakes a square or some kind of
goodie to bring, and you can coordinate some students to provide some sort
of entertainment (skits, singing, dancing, the like), you'll be able to
easily use up at least an hour or two. Since most of our volunteers were
females (I think typically we had two fathers and about twenty or thirty
mothers), we sometimes arranged to have one of their children present them
with a single rose or carnation as well. A short thank you speech from one
or more staff members would also be nice.
I think a luncheon is always nice...you could even ask key library
students to host and hostess. A small pin (see ALA graphics) would be a
nice gift.
I cook a nice meal for my volunteers. Whatever is on my mind. I think
I'll do lasagna this year. I'll serve them right here in the library,
with fresh flowers, and I wait on them, and we sit for a few minutes and
just visit, and enjoy a nice lunch together. It's the most economical
way I can thank them, and every year they come back, so it must work:)
From the Dollar Store, I got a toy spade (big, bright, plastic)...on it
painted "We really Dig You."
Also from the Dollar Store, a big toy bug and the note on it said "I would
go buggy without your help."
Also from the Dollar Store, a toy compass and the note said "We Would Be
Lost Without You."
I attached a note to a pack of flower seeds that said "You Helped Us Grow."
To a candy Millionaire, I attached a note that said "You Are Worth a Million
Bucks."
One idea (and I've done this, with good results) is to look in the
Upstart catalog from Highsmith. They have lovely "Love my Library" logo
things like mugs and note cubes (and more expensive stuff, too, like
tote bags). If you can afford $5 for each that's a great place to
shop.
We recognize volunteers at a luncheon every year. The cafeteria ladies
make their famous baked chicken with wonderful side dishes. After lunch,
students and teachers meet in the gym to recognize the volunteers.
Students make cards, recite poems, sing songs, and give hugs. The school
gives each volunteer a pin in recognition of the contributions made to
the school.
HOw about a nice note done on the computer and purchasing some nice
bookmarks?
One way (which we do) to honor your volunteers will not cost you anything.
Just choose new books from your most recent book order and put a bookplate
in a book in honor of each volunteer. I put their names and date of
volunteer services on the book plate and then send them each a letter
thanking them for their help, telling them how valuable they are to the
library, how we would like for them to volunteer again next year and give
the name of the book which is in the collection in their honor. They really
seem pleased by this and it is almost free.
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