BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Volunteers at the Kern County Library are helping the library system provide essential services to the community.
Genevieve Egana, the senior librarian for the Kern County Library’s Beale Memorial Library, said volunteers are typically needed more at higher traffic branches, but farther flung branches can always use help.
"They do a lot of the work that kind of helps us focus on other things. So they help with shelving. They help with shelf reading, prepping for programs. One huge thing that they've done lately is stock our seed library, which has been super popular for the last week," Egana said. "I'm thinking of like Ridgecrest or Tehachapi, just to get a few more people in the building to help prep craft programs, move furniture around, cleaning, shelving, all that kind of thing, and it helps library staff focus more on programming or offering services to the community."
Elaine Alvarez started as a volunteer in 2021 and now works for the library system. Alvarez said she originally started to fill volunteer hours for a college course and found a love that the community has for its libraries.
"I didn't expect to see a lot of the community love the library so much, as weird as that sounds, or the public see what the library has to offer. So it's a lot of things that the public doesn't know, and I was kind of glad to see that they are enjoying the things that the library has to offer, so like free meals, programming, story times," Alvarez said.
While volunteering may not be for everyone, Gabriela Ramirez, a volunteer for the library through the EPIC Program, has advice for those on the fence.
"Instead of doom scrolling on your butt, you should get up. I mean, you'll definitely reap the rewards," Ramirez said. "The library is fun. Everybody should come here. Don't like, why are we going to bars and stuff like, come to the library. Read, talk, conversate, craft."
Information on how to volunteer with your local library can be found on the Kern County Library's main website.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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