By Julia W., Community Engagement Coordinator
Library volunteer at the summer reading prize station.
Volunteers should be celebrated for their tremendous impact on nonprofit organizations and the communities they serve. The latest biennial Volunteering in America report from Americorps shows almost 61 million Americans (about 23.2% of the population) served about 4.1 billion hours between September 2020-2021.
The benefits of volunteering extend beyond the impact on the organizations: volunteering can also be good for you! The American Heart Association, Mayo Clinic, and many other organizations and news sites tout the mental and physical health benefits of volunteering, such as social engagement, greater feelings of purpose and self-worth, and increased longevity.
Volunteer at HEPL
At Hamilton East Public Library, more than 400 volunteers currently help us out with a variety of assignments. Many have told us they’ve enjoyed getting to work with an organization they care about and getting to know HEPL staff, and they also feel more connected to the communities in Fishers and Noblesville.
Teen library volunteer tidying the shelves.
In 2023, HEPL volunteers contributed a total of 3,063 hours through a variety of assignments, including volunteers who search for items on the shelves, English as a New Language volunteers who assist with our conversation groups, and Program Support volunteers who provide hospitality and assistance at library-sponsored programs. We also have assignments specifically for teens, including Teen Advisory Board, which helps us determine library programs and other initiatives for their age group. They can also help us keep the libraries neat by signing up for Tidying Teens or submit reviews of new teen books as part of the national Teens’ Top Ten program.
If you’d like to learn more about available volunteer assignments at Hamilton East Public Library or fill out an application, visit our volunteering page or email [email protected] for more information. Some assignments may not be available on our application right now if we have enough volunteers, but we do post all available volunteer openings on our volunteer page. We will have a few new ones coming soon!
Volunteer in the Community
There’s many ways to volunteer in our community! Here’s a few more ideas for organizations that could use your help:
Library volunteer in the stacks
- Volunteer Fishers
- IMPACT Noblesville
- City of Noblesville Community Engagement & Volunteer Opportunities
- Humane Society for Hamilton County
- Youth Mentoring Initiative
- Teter Organic Farm
- Hamilton County Parks and Recreation
These organizations and sites below are not local, but you may find some virtual volunteering options, or they may be able to connect you to a local agency.
- Volunteer.gov: Volunteering for some federal agencies (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Park Service, Fish & Wildlife Service, etc.). Includes virtual volunteering.
- VolunteerMatch
- Create the Good from AARP