This training is for library directors and library staff that work with volunteers. Participants will come away with various tools and resources that will enable them to perfect their volunteer game. Those who are new to volunteer management will develop the necessary foundation to begin successfully recruiting and engaging with volunteers.

At the end of this training, participants will understand and gain implementation skills in:

• Utilizing skilled volunteers at the library
• Identifying what motivates volunteers and how to ensure the right “fit”
• Designing volunteer job descriptions and targeting recruitment plans
• Getting staff buy-in and other strategies for successful volunteer engagement

We encourage libraries to attend in a team of at least 2, preferably a library manager and the library staff that works directly with volunteers. If that is not possible (or you are one in the same) we understand and know you will benefit from participating. A working lunch will be provided.

Carla Lehn, Facilitator

After National Service as a VISTA volunteer, Carla completed a Masters in Community Development at the University of California, Davis. She worked with nonprofits at the Sacramento Area United Way for over a decade, and then operated her consulting practice while based in Hawaii for 6 years.

One of her clients, the California State Library, asked her to join their staff in 2001 to manage the statewide volunteer-based adult literacy program, which included a statewide AmeriCorps program for 6 years, and while there she also designed and led a statewide library volunteerism initiative called Get Involved: Powered by Your Library. Its dual purpose is to recruit high impact volunteers to share their skills, and through those relationships, to engage them as strong library supporters. The initiative has recently been showcased as a chapter called "Leading Big Volunteer Operations" in the book "Volunteer Engagement 2.0: Insights Changing the World."

Recently retired from the state library, Carla is spending time again on her consulting practice and doing some bucket list travel. She provides independent consultation and training services to a broad spectrum of predominantly not-for-profit and government clients in the areas of Volunteer Engagement, Board Development, and Strategic Planning.

Get Involved Collaborative: A Multi‐State Approach to Increasing Volunteer Engagement

The Get Involved Collaborative proposes to increase the use of skilled volunteers in public libraries using a scalable matrix collaboratively developed with an IMLS Planning Grant with the goal of replicating the California State Library’s successful Get Involved: Powered by Your Library initiative.