The Germantown Community Library encourages volunteer activity. By partnering with volunteers, the library hopes to further involve community members in its ongoing improvement and continued success. The library recognizes the unique talents, knowledge and expertise that volunteers provide to the community. 

Volunteer Opportunities
The Germantown Community Library has a variety of exciting volunteer opportunities available to members of our community. Volunteer roles range from sorting and shelving books to participating in our programs and events. If you are interested in supporting our community through volunteer service at the library, please visit the Volunteer Odyssey website and search for an opportunity that fits your interests. Volunteer Friends Book Store and Germantown Regional History and Genealogy Center are still accepting applications, but each have special requirements for volunteers. Please inquire at those locations for more details. 

Types of Work and Work Requirements
Volunteers perform a wide array of tasks, including helping with special events, shelving library materials, operations in the Friends Bookstore and various other duties. The volunteer is required, along with filling out the initial application, to undergo a brief interview to determine the potential volunteer’s job interests at the library and their suitability for a particular volunteer position. 

• All volunteers must complete one or more training sessions before beginning volunteer work. These sessions will be scheduled after the application and interview process is complete.
• The library does not accept court-mandated “volunteer” workers, with the exception of teens assigned to the library by the City of Germantown Court's First Offenders program. If you need to complete volunteer hours for this program, please call to schedule a day to volunteer.
• Volunteers must be 18 years of age for participation in the adult volunteer program. These volunteers join the library volunteer team for a minimum of 1 hour per week for six months. Volunteers are utilized during normal business hours only and will not be scheduled for times when the library is not open for business. 
• Teens ages 14 to 17 are invited to join our teen volunteer program. These teens will need parental/guardian consent before being accepted as a library volunteer. Three types of volunteer opportunities exist for this age group:
  • Short-term projects in the Youth Services Department to fulfill service hours for school or extracurricular activities
  • Long-term volunteers (at least one hour per week for six months) assigned to age-appropriate tasks in the Young Adult area of the library under the umbrella of the adult volunteer program
  • Summer Reading volunteers -- inquire at the Youth Services Desk in the spring

Volunteer Benefits
The library strives to encourage volunteer activity by recognizing service. Depending on the amount of time worked in a given year, a volunteer will receive special recognition for service performed. Listed below are the number of hours worked with their corresponding benefit, beginning in January of each year: 

• Any service - A certificate of appreciation.
• 50+ hours of service - Waiver of checkout fees for applicable library materials and a certificate of appreciation. The waiver does NOT include overdue fines. The waiver goes into effect the first week of the month following the completion of the 50+ hours of service and will remain in effect for one year from that date. In addition, GCL and FBS volunteers who reach 50+ hours of service are also eligible to have the nonresident fee waived for a library card.
• 100+ hours of service - A bookplate in a book of choice in the Volunteer’s honor. GRHGC volunteers become eligible to have the nonresident fee waived for a library card.

Volunteer service time is calculated by reviewing the volunteer sign-in sheet. The volunteer coordinator will determine when a volunteer has worked the hours required for a given benefit. Upon determining a volunteer’s eligibility for fee waivers, the volunteer coordinator will give the volunteer’s name to the circulation supervisor so that they can make the appropriate adjustments to the volunteer’s library account. All volunteer sign-in sheets for the preceding month must be turned in at the beginning of each month.

Application Documents

City Volunteer Application and Library Volunteer Application.