For Pickerington Public Library, teen volunteers are the lifeblood of the operation, says Colleen Bauman, community engagement manager at Pickerington Public Library.
The teen volunteers do so much more than shelve books. From helping with seasonal events such as Santa Saturday and the summer reading program to tutoring students in the homework help center, the teen volunteers are vital to library programming.
“These guys and girls are trained and have a passion to be here,” Bauman says. “They’re definitely committed; they’re committed to their time here.”
This past year the library implemented its brand-new Teen Volunteer Service Award Scholarship to benefit long-term teen volunteers. The scholarship isn’t funded by the library itself, but from two anonymous Violet Township residents who are providing scholarship funds.
“These anonymous donors felt very strongly that we have high-caliber teen volunteers that come through the program,” she says. “They wanted to be able to help them in the future.”
Library volunteers with at least 25 service hours over the past year or 50 service hours over the past two years can apply for the award. A total of $1,500 is distributed among the recipients with each recipient receiving at least $500. This year, three student volunteers were awarded the scholarship, including Parker Bennett.
Parker Bennett
The Pickerington North graduate has had his hands full throughout his high school career. He was a member of the National Honor Society, photography club, wrestling team, Health Occupations Students of America medical competition, Pickerington Food Pantry and other groups.
Nevertheless, Bennett always found time for the library.
“I went to the library every weekday – every day it was open, Monday through Thursday, tutoring three to five hours,” Bennett says. “Initially it was for the NHS, but the maximum hours I could get from the library was 16 hours. I kept going past that.”
While Bennett has enjoyed his role as a volunteer and helping others reach their goals, he treasures the lasting connections he’s found and the opportunities the library gave him to branch out and open up.
“It definitely impacted my social life. People at the library are probably my closest friends,” Bennett says. “It helped me academically keep the more minute details of older classes still in my head. And the hobbies I was able to keep up with – one of the students enjoyed playing chess, so we would play a few chess games.”
Bennett will attend Miami University this fall where he plans to study biology and co-major in premedical studies. Although he left for campus in September, Bennett won’t forget his experience at the library any time soon.
“The experience was helpful as a whole – socially, academically. Learning that type of stuff for the social elements of my life, that stuff I don’t expect to be going away,” he says.
Bennett won’t be entirely going away, either. A longtime volunteer at the Pickerington Food Pantry, Bennett will share a paid supervisor position with other workers, allowing him to go away for school and then jump right into food pantry efforts whenever he returns to Pickerington.
This sustained connection only strengthens Bennett’s volunteer roots in the Pickerington community and confirms the stellar quality of Pickerington Public Library’s volunteers.
“I’ve been here over 20 years, and we’ve always had phenomenal teen volunteers,” Bauman says. “These are fantastic kids who are coming through here.”
Matthew Urwin is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
