The library is happy to offer volunteer opportunities for youth in grades 6 and up!
If you need service hours for a club or church or if you just want something to put on your college applications, SHPL can make that happen! We apologize, but the library does not provide service hours for court-mandated issues.
Hours are given out at the discretion of the library staff. If we deem your work to be insufficient or inappropriate, library staff can reject submissions.
We do not provide Service Hour forms. They must come from your school or organization. All virtual Service Hour forms can be brought in to the YS Circulation Desk for signature confirmation after service hours have been confirmed by us via email. We will try to confirm virtual service hours within 48 hours via email, but cannot guarantee the time frame. All in-person Service Hour forms can be brought in the day of the program or any time after. They will not be signed until the end of the program at which you are helping out. Anyone in grades 6-12 can participate in our service hour opportunities unless otherwise noted.
Thursdays from 4 pm to 8 pm
Please register through the event calendar.
Note: if you habitually don't show up without notifying us, you may lose your ability to register in the future.Email Ms. Jenn at jenn@shlibrary.org or give us a call at (708) 527-3150.
Creative/Virtual Volunteering
Interested in earning service hours from home?
Please click below to view additional volunteer opportunities!
VolunTeens FAQ
- Anyone in grades 6-12 is welcome to register, so if that describes you, we're happy to have you.
Unfortunately, we don't have an adult volunteer program at SHPL.
We know our school communities are larger than our village borders and are happy to serve everyone.
About two-thirds of the tasks change from week to week depending on what we have going on; these can be peeling stickers off new books, assembling craft kits, folding pamphlets for school visits, creating bulletin boards, checking games and puzzles for missing pieces or any other random tasks for programs and outreaches. VolunTeens also clean the toys in our Imagination Space play area so our little patrons don't get sick from germy toys.
Thursday nights from 4-8 pm.
Absolutely! Just let us know when you register that you'll be late (or if you have to leave early).
Come down to the Youth Services circulation desk and check in with a librarian. They'll direct you to Ms. Jenn or Ms. Camille and they'll get you started on your first task!
Absolutely!! We'll sign off on whatever form you bring (or send via email to jenn@shlibrary.org) verifying your time with us. DON'T COUNT ON US HAVING FORMS!! Sometimes we do, sometimes we don't.
Unfortunately, we don't offer any type of paid programming for teens.
Occasionally there will be a larger program that we need volunteers for that isn't on a Thursday night (usually they're Saturday afternoons). In those cases, I send an email to our previous volunteers giving them the first shop at signing up, but the registration works the same way - through the SHPL events calendar. We also have Teen Tech Tutors on the first 2 Mondays of each month, if you happen to be great with technology. That opportunity signs up the same way VolunTeens does.
Parents and guardians are welcome to stay if they'd like to, but are not required to do so.
We don't feed volunteers, but if you'd like to bring something to eat, you're absolutely welcome to do so. You can eat a snack in the Teen Room.