Seventeen year old Katy started coming to the library with her mother from a very young age. Her mother became a volunteer at the library, and Katy accompanied her, helping out too. She enjoyed it so much that as soon as she was old enough, she became an official volunteer for a library in Wiltshire.

Katy began by helping out with the Summer Reading Challenge. She particularly enjoyed working with children, helping them participate in and complete the challenge.

"I liked seeing the same children come back again and again. They were really pleased with their achievement and rewarding them felt great."

Gaining valuable skills

Once upon a time you weren't supposed to talk in libraries but nowadays people skills are at the heart of everything libraries do. Katy soon found that she was good at talking to children and learnt how to get the shy ones to open up. She also found that, by dealing with parents, she became adept at dealing with adults in the library too.

"I learnt a lot about how to talk to people. I enjoyed dealing with the public and making it a good service for people to use."

A job in the library

One afternoon, Katy spotted an advert for a job in the library. She decided, as she enjoyed volunteering so much, to apply for the position.

She got the job and finds it incredibly satisfying and has further developed all of her skills and added many more. In fact, she likes it so much she is even thinking about a library career in the future.

"I'll be going off to university soon but hopefully I'll be able to work in the library at the university or get a job in a library when I come out."

Get Involved

Find out how to become a young volunteer for the 2014 Summer Reading Challenge and get involved.