Volunteers Appreciate Open House

Our library's open house festival this month was another opportunity to gain perspective from new volunteers. Even those who have been volunteering for several months told me how much they appreciated having the experience of woking one-on-one with the visually impaired and those with physical handicaps.

This is one of the only times that so many of our customers have an opportunity to come to our site in person. Volunteers who usually record the news in our studio don't get an opportunity to immediately see the result of their effort. No matter how many times you tell someone that they really make a difference, it indeed makes a difference to them when they actually see the person they are serving. Volunteers were given tasks that were more "hands-on" like guiding a low-vision or blind person around the library for the entire afternoon. Most guests were very gracious but some were a challenge.

I must admit that this reinforced my appreciation for our hard-working volunteers who handled wheelchairs, talked with customers and made sure that they were able to enjoy the entertainment, exhibits and our keynote speaker.

The volunteers thanked me for the experience but I continued to thank them for many days thereafter.

Yoshimoto

Volunteer Numbers Up in 2008

Read an article yesterday (and saw an expanded news report on TV later) about the influx of volunteers nationwide. The news report focused on a retired couple who sold their home and now spend their days traveling around in an RV rebuilding homes for needy families.

The stats include all volunteer endeavors so I assume that includes those who volunteer at libraries as well.

More and more people contact our office after seeing a PSA about our program or seeing an ad in the newspaper or hearing about it from a friend who already volunteers with us.
This is really neat! I am also pleased that our pool of volunteers include those from a wide variety of professions and backgrounds.

What an encouraging and uplifting phenomenon.

Yoshimoto

Volunteers Are Special

I attended an appreciation event at a high school this morning. A group of our special ed volunteers honored our site and others with appreciation plaques! Very special. The volunteers wrote a few words and gave brief speeches to present us with the plaques. I'm really glad I was able to attend. My colleague and I noticed the reaction of several special ed volunteers whose "bosses" were unable to make it. They read their speeches anyway but you could feel the quiet disappointment. Things like that remind me of the vastness of the impact of volunteerism.

What have been your reactions to similar volunteer events? Send a post!


Yoshimoto

Tech Tappas Completed

Well all Tech Tappas exercises are completed and I look forward to "graduation" on Staff Development Day this Wednesday.

I plan to go back to each exercise to practice each feature and customize this blog when I have the time.

Yoshimoto

Podcasts for eLearning

Podcasts are quite useful in foreign language acquisition. The 2 podcasts I added to my bloglines account are Drexel eLearning and Learn Spanish on Coffee Break.

For years I've been making a mental note to begin improving my Spanish speaking skills. My natural inclination is to turn to the old Berlitz audiotape series but learning bit by bit from a podcast gives me the flexibility of learning at my own pace; fitting a mini lesson into my busy schedule.

Hopefully I'll be able to be a bit more fluent in Spanish before our library's October open house. We'll see.

Yoshimoto

Better Flickr Link to Previous Post

A better link to the image of an astronaut at the Library for the Blind and Handicapped's story hour for deaf children is http://www.flickr.com/photos/njlibraryevents/page93/

(Sorry about that!)

Yoshimoto

Library Uses Flickr

Flickr is great for giving the public a taste of the many different events that libraries have to offer. How appropriate that it is included in our Technology Tappas tutorial!

Here's an example of the fun that deaf students can have at the Library for the Blind and Handicapped: http://www.flickr.com/photos/njlibraryevents/2784401461/

The astronaut in this link will take you to the moon and beyond!


Yoshimoto

Web 2.0-Zoho Writer

The Zoho Writer word processing application has some pretty neat features. When I have the time I'll have to explore them all.

7 1/2 Habits Wk 2

I completed this exercise last month but hadn't posted my responses on Perspectives:

Developing a brief task outliine before beginning a project coomes naturally to me because I am a "list maker" (even before the invention of the Blackberry!)

Of the 7 1/2 suggested habits the one that I find the most challenging is "view(ing) problems as challenges".

I appreciate that "successful lifelong learners know the value of playing" (neat quote...and very true).

Tech Tappas Summary

I enjoyed participating in the Tech Tappas tutorial project but found it more time-consuming as I went along. (I don't have a computer at home and am usually quite busy at work).

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am not naturally inclined to share "every thought that comes into my head" so I doubt I will take full advantage of social bookmarking and wikis.

You Tube Exercise

I like the simplicity of the "Stop Motion with Wolf and Pig" video by dokugyunyu.

(The title appears in English when you point your cursor to the name).

This video could be used as an example of how to take a very simple idea (free association...the first image that comes into your head...a pig and a wolf perhaps from memory of a bedtime story) and turn it on its head.

Aragatoo gozaimasu, dokugyunyu!

Wiki Use

I didn't use Wikipedia much in graduate school because my primary professor wouldn't accept the information as reference.

I think I'd use wikis to trade reviews about books and movies and (I got this idea out of the blue last week) I'm going to cobtact a friend from undergraduate school days to revive our plans to collaborate on a play. I still have the notes from the first act or two. I think he'd get a kick out of finally getting our "project" up on its feet after all this time.

What's your "perspective" on this, fellow tech tapas "students"?

(Note: Some of my entries aren't showing up..I've emailed Andrea and Rob)

Yoshimoto

Tagging

The tagging/social networking exercise took more time than I expected. This is actually good practice for me because I don't automatically share RSS feeds and other "lists" with others. I keep "lists" of favorite books, movies, quotes, etc in my head and am not naturally inclined to assume that anyone else would want to read the list. Maybe I'm wrong.

I'll also have to get used to the "bundling" process. Aggregates seem to be more trouble than they're worth. But I could be wrong.



Yoshimoto

Learning New Technology

I admit to having a mere layperson's comprehension of "state-of-the-art" technology but I continue to expect perfection the first time I try something new. I am getting better at not being so self-critical in the learning process.

The bloglines exercise that I have recently completed will allow me to experiment with creating RSS feeds. Pretty cool.

Yoshimoto

Broadcast Coordinator

Many people are beginning to take a second look at volunteerism. Those who once believed they didn't have the time or energy to spare have been emailing and calling the office to finally admit that they can carve 20 minutes or sometimes an hour out of their busy week to volunteer. My theory? The state of our economy is forcing us to be even more reflective about what really matters in our community and how we can make the lives of others a bit easier...What is your perspective on this?