Dear Volunteer,

As we continue to deliver our service under the current government guidelines I thought it would be a good time for a quick volunteering update.   

• We currently have 88 Home Library Direct Volunteers actively delivering to customers and we will continue to keep you up to date when restrictions change. 
• We now have a team of 11 Digital Volunteers who provide Remote Digital Support to our customers. Between them they have now helped an amazing 136 customer with their basic digital enquiries!
• We continue to develop a new “promotional support” volunteer activity, but due to the current guidance to stay at home, we have started to explore a simplified version which can be adapted quickly when things change. We have recently sent an update to the volunteers who expressed an interest in this activity and will continue to keep everyone up to date as things develop.

Unfortunately, due to the current restrictions, many of you are still unable to return to your volunteer roles in library buildings at the moment, but we would love you to get involved during Wellbeing Month or hear about your virtual reading group (see below).

We also hope to organise some virtual volunteer catch ups over the next few months. More information will follow shortly but, in the meantime, don't forget you are still able to return and pick up reserved items from our front doors using Select and Collect. 

Christine Broggi - Principal Librarian Volunteering

March is Wellbeing Month

We would love to hear from you about what has helped your wellbeing through lockdown. This could be walking, gardening, baking, reading, your cat…anything!

Please send a really short video clip, no longer than 30 seconds and filmed in landscape, to wscclibraries@gmail.com for us to share and use on social media throughout Wellbeing Month. Here are some guidelines and an example video for you to look at and don't forget to mention that you are a Library Volunteer!

Please send us your videos by Wednesday 3 March.

Don't worry if filming is not for you! Would you prefer to recommend a book that has boosted your mood or put a smile on your face?

We are looking for suggestions of titles to post on Facebook on Thursday 18 March. This could be fiction, poetry, non-fiction, anything that helped you to feel good! Please send details of the book, including author, title and a photo of the cover, to Talk About Reading by Tuesday 16 March.

There will also be lots of information and useful resources on our website throughout the month to help support your wellbeing, including details of the Reading Well scheme.

Are you a Reading Group Volunteer?

Although some of our reading groups have been unable to meet in person over the past year, we know that many of you have ventured into the world of virtual reading groups online or via Zoom.

If you are a Reading Group Volunteer and your group is now meeting online, please get in touch and let us know:

What have you enjoyed most about meeting virtually?

Do you have any top tips for a successful virtual Reading Group meeting?

We will then share your experiences to help inspire others in our next volunteer newsletter.

Don't worry if your group hasn't taken the virtual leap yet. Here is a guide to help you to get started or if you would like some support from one of our friendly digital volunteers, please contact 0330 222 3455 or email library.digital.support@westsussex.gov.uk   

West Sussex Volunteer Survey - coming soon!

Although many of our volunteer opportunities are currently on pause, we would like to take this opportunity to capture the views and feedback of volunteers across all West Sussex Services. 

The West Sussex Volunteer Survey will be launched very soon and the information provided will help us plan for the future, improve our volunteer programme and ensure that our volunteer offer is a positive and fulfilling experience.

It would be great if all our amazing library volunteers could take part to represent the Library Service, so please watch this space for more information.   

and finally...

Congratulations to Russell Allen who has recently been appointed to the position of Head of Libraries and Heritage. Russell has worked for West Sussex Library Service for 23 years and is currently one of our Lead Managers.

Russell will commence his role at the beginning of April when Lesley Sim leaves us for a well deserved retirement and he is really looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible throughout the year.