During the 2009 SLA Conference, SLA-SD President Elect Bobbi Weaver received the inaugural Business & Finance Division’s Leadership & Service Award. This new award was created to recognize members who demonstrate exemplary leadership and service to community or nonprofit organizations. In the interview presented here, Bobbi fills us in on her experiences as a volunteer and offers insights into the benefits that volunteering brings.
Photo: Bobbi Weaver receives the Business & Finance Division’s 2009 Leadership & Service Award from (on the left) Margaret Nelson with EvaluatePharma USA (the sponsor of the award) and (on the right) Terri Brooks, the Business and Finance Division's chair.
How did you get started as a volunteer? What was your inspiration?
Since I was a child, I’ve been doing volunteer work. I was a Brownie and Girl Scout, and we often were recruited to do various community activities. When I was in college, I was an officer in the Canterbury Club, an Episcopalian-affiliated student fellowship group, through which I did outreach to an area nursing home.
More recently, I became involved in volunteering to enhance my foreign language skills. In July 2004, I did a volunteer vacation at the Fundacción de Proteción Animal (FPA) in Loja, Ecuador where I organized the group’s small library and did a guest lecture on animal law for the law students at a local university.
In later years, I began relearning French. To help my French skills, I developed an HTML file for La Société Québécoise pour la Défense des Animaux with links to Quebec municipal laws related to companion animals. I later became involved in literacy issues in Haiti, and periodically sent French books to a private school there.
How did you get involved with Haiti Reads, the group cited in the SLA Business & Finance Division's announcement regarding its awarding you the award?
A few months ago, a shipment of French books to the school in Haiti was returned to me. Rather than attempting to resend the package, I searched the Internet for organizations within the US that assist people in Haiti.
During my research, I found Haiti Reads. I contacted the president of the organization, Jeanette Attiso, and asked if she could use the French books. She said yes. As we conversed by email, I told her I was a librarian and she indicated that Haiti Reads was planning a small library to serve a community in Port-au-Prince. She later asked if I would be interested in serving on the board of Haiti Reads, and in advising them on the organization of the new library. I agreed, and have been assisting with issues of fundraising, collection development, preservation, cataloging and classification.
What results have you seen from your personal volunteer efforts, as well as efforts of nonprofits for which you've served as a volunteer?
In Ecuador, FPA was able to provide materials to a variety of patrons (e.g., members of the general community, university students, veterinary students, farmers), and thus able to help educate people on the humane treatment of animals. For the group, in addition to print materials, I compiled a list of Spanish-language links for information on animal welfare and environmental protection. Unfortunately, FPA later closed due to financial constraints, but the library’s collection was donated to a local university library.
For Haiti Reads, I’m glad to have been able to provide the direction to launch the new library project. Though the new library is still in development, the building has been rented and is scheduled for renovations next month. This library will provide books and literacy training to children in one of the poorest areas of Haiti’s capital city.
What does volunteering bring you?
Volunteering makes me thankful for what I do have, rather than envious of what I don’t. I am also personally motivated by my faith.
Volunteering also enhances professional skills that I may not use in my regular job. For example, my job primarily involves reference, but in my volunteer work I’ve used other librarianship skills. I’ve also been able to keep up-to-date on resources outside the traditional legal resources that I use day-to-day.
What advice do you have for other info pros looking to get going with volunteering?
Many local organizations could benefit by having volunteers with librarianship skills. Additionally, because of our proximity to Mexico, librarians might want to consider opportunities across the border. In addition to educational institutions such as schools, organizations dealing with animal protection, environmental protection and human rights can use information professionals to help with community outreach.
A great place to find volunteer opportunities is the website Idealist.org. This site offers a database of volunteer opportunities throughout the world. Also, for job-seekers, Idealist.org includes job listings for nonprofit organizations in the US and worldwide.
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Interview conducted and written by Daria DeCooman
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