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Volunteers have had a major impact on libraries throughout U.S. history. The rapid changes in the information world of the last decade serve as a catalyst for evaluation of library programs including those for volunteers. This article offers a brief history of volunteers in libraries and discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages of instituting a volunteer program as well as implications based on library implementation of new computer technologies. The authors argue that a robust volunteer program will help a library in developing a consultation model of communication, thus providing more effective public services.
The library belongs to our com- munity and everyone in it. The chance for people to con- tribute their time and inter- est as volunteers is a way the library acknowledges that this is the commu- nity's library."1 Volunteers have experi- enced a long and fruitful tenure serv- ing American libraries. Their roles and responsibilities have been as diverse as the volunteers themselves. As society continues to experience an information revolution, it is important to reevalu- ate the role of volunteers in libraries. Libraries must reassess whether it is advantageous to incorporate volunteer programs at all and address issues such as volunteer demographics, motivation, management, work tasks, and reward and recognition. Two things are central in this process: the commitment to synchronizing the volunteer program philosophy with the overarching library mission, and grounding volunteer program structure in solid information and library science theory. Existing technological changes and forecasts for the future must both be taken in account as libraries make judgments about volunteer program structure. As the information services world continues to move toward practice based on users' needs and the importance of community networking, society will see libraries incorporating more vibrant and expansive volunteer programs.
THE HISTORY OF VOLUNTEERS IN LIBRARIES
Volunteer efforts are often characterized as the historical cornerstone of library advancement.2 Prior to the 1930s, volunteers provided many lending services, especially to homesteaders in the west. Starting nationwide in the 1930s, professional staff coordinated services but volunteers widely operated libraries, and in every community there were many people interested enough in the library movement to devote a considerable amount of their personal time and effort.3
The 1970s marked the union movement in libraries. In the early...