Thanks to all who attended the volunteer briefing/celebration event on 17 December. I hope everyone enjoyed it!
There were questions raised, and I wanted to address as many of these as it’s easy to address as soon as possible. This is the first go at that. Please bookmark this page as I’ll update with more info as and when it comes through.
These are the issues that were raised.
BRIEFING SESSION FOR PROSPECTIVE TRUSTEES
Those interested should tentatively save Thursday 15 February, evening for this session. We will be using an external trainer to explain what being a trustee is all about and what the expectations and qualifications are.
GRIEVANCE POLICY
The trustees have recently been updating all of the organisations policies (there are a large number of them). They will soon be available for everyone to read on the shared drive, and a link will be posted on Three Rings explaining how to find them. Please familiarise yourselves with them all.
When the Grievance or Complaints policy is available, this will be shared on Three Rings too, in the document store.
BOOK CLUB/STORY TIME TRAINEE SHIFT
Not sure who wrote this – are you suggesting a trainee status for this activity? Not a bad idea. If you can clarify, we can see what can be done.
VOLUNTEER CANDIDATES TO BE BETTER VETTED RE THEIR AVAILABILITY AND REASON
Again, not 100% sure what the issue is here other than that someone feels volunteers should volunteer more regularly? Everyone is asked their motivation for volunteering when they have their first session. I’m not clear whether who wrote this feels that people who don’t volunteer regularly enough should be asked to leave? (seems to be related to issue immediately below if so). Most people are very relieved when they volunteer that they are not expected to turn up every week at the same time and they are in control of their volunteering.
We are also formalising requirements of volunteers, and each new volunteer will be asked to sign a document to say they’ve received, read. understood and agree to comply with the Volunteer Code. it may take a while, but we will be asking all current volunteers to do this too, in fairness. The document includes a training record, so that it’s clear to everyone who has completed their training.
It’s already possible to check on Three Rings for this info, although there may be a small time lag between someone completing training and their record being updated. As a reminder, here are the commonly used codes and their meaning:
[KH] Key Holder – this means someone has been shown how to open and close the building, set and unset the alarm etc
[BT] Barista Trainee – someone who has not yet completed 5 shifts as a support Barista
[LDT] – Library Desk Trainee – someone who has not yet completed 3 library desk shifts as a support library desk volunteer
[SM] – Shift Manager – someone who has completed either (or both) the Library Desk and Barista Training and is able to train other volunteers.
We’ll soon be introducing a new code to indicate who has been trained to operate and solve issues regarding the fire and security alarms. Currently this is just Sally Long and me (Wendy Tyrrell)
ASK VOLUNTEERS TO DO A MINIMUM NUMBER OF SHIFTS PER MONTH
I’m guessing this is to do with the shortage of volunteers and a wish to spread the load more evenly? If so, this suggestion might actually decrease the number of volunteers we have. During inductions, many (most) volunteers say that the ability to choose their own shifts and frequency of volunteering is a big attraction. If we had a minimum number of shifts, this would require someone to police whether volunteers had volunteered enough that month and to discipline them if not. I don’t want that job!
This is perhaps also a good opportunity to state that, as an organisation, we are committed to inclusion in our volunteer recruitment policy. This means that we will not discriminate against anyone whose circumstances or abilities make it difficult for them to volunteer on a regular date or time. All are welcome, and we are grateful for all the support and hard work that our team offers to the community via the library.
INFORM FRONT DESK OR BARISTA OF IMPENDING TRAINEE
This has been raised with me before, and I can only reiterate what I said at that point. Three Rings is a self-managed system. You choose when you volunteer, you sign yourself up, and you should take yourself off of shifts (as many of you do) when you are unable to fulfil your commitment. We hope and expect that all volunteers will work cooperatively with whoever else is on shift with them.
We do not have anyone with the time to log in to three Rings every day and check when there’s a new trainee signed up on a shift with a Shift Manager. If you really feel the need to know whether there will be someone new on shift with you, I recommend you log in to Three Rings immediately before your shift to check. If you don’t want to train new volunteers, just let me know and I’ll make sure you are not a Shift Manager. All new volunteers are told before they start their training shifts that they should only sign up with a Shift Manager. Having said all that, it would really be a problem for us as an organisation if everyone declined to train others. Please bear that in mind. If you feel you need more support in order to feel confident in training new people, this will of course be given. Please ask either me or Aurora, as appropriate.
A REVISION SESSION TO REMIND ALL VOLUNTEERS OF THEIR DUTIES
Great suggestion! New versions of the guidance materials are a bit overdue and will be provided shortly. If you would like an in-person revision session, please let me or Aurora know so we can arrange something to suit.
I think that covers all the issues from last month. If any new ones arise, please feel free to raise them at any time.