By Amber Bourek Slater, Volunteer & Friends Engagement Coordinator
Jorge Carballeira’s father ran a large bookstore in Havana, Cuba. In addition to selling books, his father also recruited authors to write textbooks and then printed those materials for schools in their community. When Jorge was just 16 years old, his family moved to the United States. Jorge says, “I never forgot the importance of an education and access to books.” He went on to become an electrical engineer and moved around the country for work before settling in the Kansas City area.
Jorge first started volunteering episodically with his co-workers to help with the Friends of Johnson County Library Sizzlin’ Summer Book Sale at the old Mission Mall. “It became an annual volunteer commitment,” he said. When he retired, Jorge became a weekly Library volunteer in the Friends’ Antioch Bookstore for nearly a decade. Today, he continues to share those skills helping the Friends with their Pop-Up Book Sales at their Pine Ridge Headquarters (8279 Melrose Dr., Lenexa, KS). Jorge volunteers for two shifts per month — one as a cashier and one as a counter. According to Jorge, “this is a great place to meet people and Friends staff are wonderful.”
Additionally, Jorge has spent the last two years volunteering on Monday mornings sorting donations at the Friends. There, he works alongside fellow Monday morning shelving volunteer Karen Wulfkuhle. Similar to Jorge, Karen knew she wanted to volunteer at the Library when she retired.
Karen volunteered at the Antioch Bookstore for six years prior to serving at the Friends headquarters. She loved the variety of tasks both shelving and cashiering. Plus, Karen got to know regular shoppers and what types of books they work looking for. “I still see some of those customers at the Pop-Up Book Sales,” reports Karen. She now serves as a second Saturday cashier as well as helps covers last-minute sales openings as an on-call volunteer. In addition to volunteering with the Friends, Karen also helps with many Library programs such as the Writers Conference and Library Lets Loose.
Fellow Pop-Up Book Sale volunteer Tracy Fan found this opportunity on VolunteerMatch. As a University of Kansas sophomore majoring in biology with plans to study dentistry, Tracy does not have a lot of free time. The Friends Pop-Up Book Sale opportunity was attractive due to its proximity to home and flexible weekend commitment. “Anyone can volunteer for Pop-Up Sales. Plus, a three-hour shift goes by so fast,” says Tracy. “I get to use my brain counting books being purchased while socializing with my volunteer buddies.”
Getting the first chance to buy books is one of the benefits in volunteering at the Friends. “I find all kinds of books that I didn’t know existed and can explore new genres,” says Karen. “I buy lots of children’s books for kids in my neighborhood.” As a book conservationist in the Spencer Conservation Lab at KU, Tracy loves the vintage books. “I once found a collection of Andersen stories. The book was starting to fall apart and I’m excited to try to restore it,” recalls Tracy.
We need people like you to join these incredible volunteers! In January, the Friends headquarters is doubling its capacity by expanding their book sale and community outreach into the space next door at 8281 Melrose Dr. This means we need more Pop-Up Book Sale volunteers to help with expanded hours of operations. Episodic volunteers ages 14 and older are needed to serve as book counters, greeters and floaters. Our greatest need is for volunteers willing to commitment to one three-hour shift per month as a trained cashier.
If you are interested in becoming Pop-Up Book Sale volunteer, please visit jocolibrary.org/volunteer.
This post was originally published on here
