National Volunteer Week 2011

It's National Volunteer Week this week and the Chippewa Falls Public Library, like most libraries, has several volunteers who help us keep running. In fact, we have more volunteers, at times, than we have projects for them to work on. Our regular volunteers, however, have regular niches in which they work, show up consistently, work hard and are pretty uplifting presences, every one. I'd like to recognize some of our stalwarts here in this blog entry.

Lucas Endres--The library's resident computer expert, Lucas comes in for several hours per week to work on our computers and computing issues. He is a de facto member of the staff in many ways and never disappoints when it's time to keep the eLibrary alive.

Matt Lyberg--We check thousands of DVDs out each week. The cases lock and unlock for the protection of the material inside. Double checking the discs inside and messing with the locks is, from what I've seen, tedious and time consuming. Each Tuesday and Friday, Mr. Lyberg comes in and takes care of the DVDs--locking and shelving--to keep our most popular commodity moving smoothly in and out.

Beverly Michels--Ms. Michels comes in on Wednesdays to straighten the break room and shelve Young Adult books. She's been doing this for years and we really notice when she is out.

Jean Liedl--Recently moved to the area and shelves books on days when the staff is overwhelmed. Loves the library and really bends her back to the task; we appreciate her contribution.

Kaitlyn Kampion--Ms. Kampion is a high school student who helps out with storytime preparation and other craft and repair projects in the children's department. An upbeat young lady with a forthright manner and the work ethic of a sure future success.

Judy Monarski--Ms. Monarski shelves and straightens and is always willing to do the extra tasks we can't get to. She is an asset indeed.

Karen Grothe--Ms. Grothe was employed by the library for years and retired in 2010. She still comes in to use her still-sharp skills on her own time to keep the library running the best it can.

Sue Elstran--If a book gets damaged enough to be noticeable but is in good enough shape to be used again, we repair it. Ms. Elstran has the skills to mix the glues, bind the spines and press the pages. Her efforts over the years have surely saved the library thousands of dollars.

To these volunteers and any I have let slip my mind: THANK YOU. Thank you so much. You make the library a better place, truly.

We have had other volunteers come and go over the years and applications still arrive regularly. If you or anyone you know is interested in doing some volunteering, contact our volunteer coordinators, Sue Rada & Joe Niese.