Volunteering

 

When we first spent time here in northwest Phoenix in Surprise in 2017, we were glad to discover how great the library here is. Located across the street from the Surprise Stadium (the spring training home for the Texas Rangers and the Kansas City Royals) and down the street from city hall, the Northwest Regional Library is spacious and offers a wide variety of materials and programs for local residents. We were also pleased to find a terrific used bookstore (the biggest and best in this part of Phoenix it turns out!) in the lobby with a huge selection of books and magazines and movies for sale at bargain prices and staffed by friendly volunteers. With magazines priced at  5 for a dollar, Mom quickly started a collection of Food Network magazines  to have on hand in place of bringing heavy cookbooks back and forth from Denver. Even better was finding practically new current issues for only 25 cents and then seeing the same issue still on the newsstand at the grocery store within a few days of visiting the library! While Mom browsed the stacks of magazines, Dad and I searched movies for anything we'd like to own or movies that we knew weren't available to stream for free. For just $3 apiece, we brought home some great DVDs  and Blue Rays to add to our library hereat the house or in the camper for when we travel.

We often stopped to talk to the volunteers on our way in or out of the library and learned a bit more about the bookstore. Run by the Friends of the Surprise Libraries, the bookstore was started as a way to raise money to bring a public library to the town of Surprise. After the library became part of the Maricipa County Library System, the store continued as a way to support the local community.

Everything on the shelves is donated to the group and the money earned is returned to the community in the form of donations, educational grants, scholarships, gifts and free classroom materials for local teachers. We also run a bookmark contest every year where 6, 7, and 8th graders design a bookmark and have the opportunity to win a small cash prize and have their design made into bookmarks that we give away for free. Recently, Friends surpassed $600,000 donated to the community and is well on its way to the $700,000 mark! In addition, the group helps support a smaller library branch that has been able to expand its hours, giving children in that neighborhood more accessibility to the library and its free services.

I joined the Friends organization in the fall of 2018 and began volunteering in the bookstore on Sunday afternoons in January 2019. I enjoyed volunteering so much that I added a volunteer shift on Friday afternoons as well.

As I tell regular customers and library patrons that I've come to know, it's a pretty great deal--I get to meet interesting people and talk about books  and be indoors during the hot afternoons in the Arizona summer. (This afternoon, I met someone from Athens, Georgia and we talked about music and concerts we've been to for a while. Turns out she's known the Indigo Girls "forever.")

Last fall, I joined the board  of the Friends group and am thoroughly enjoying being even more involved with the group.

As I have found from visiting stroke survivors and other patients with my Maddie-dog at the rehab hospital in Denver, volunteering my time and giving back is super rewarding!

I'm curious, friends, do you volunteer anywhere? I'd love to hear about what you do and where if you'd like to leave a comment!

I've purposely included a bunch of links in this blog post in case you want to learn more or see any pictures!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

 

Comments

[Nancy]

Volunteering is so rewarding. My husband and I volunteer twice a week at Banner Baywood Medical and Heart Hospital. So glad you found a happy place to volunteer.

[Charlotte Moore]

I volunteer at the school I retired from. Our great granddaughter goes there.

Proud you are doing so well.

[Lisa]

I look for you every time I go to the Surprise Library, hoping I'll see you so I can introduce myself :)

The new library that opened this week is within walking distance of where I live so I may not go to the other as often, but...I'll still drop in when I'm over there and hopefully eventually I'll finally meet you sometime!