This summer young people all around the UK have been helping with StoryLab activities in their local public libraries as part of the Summer Reading Challenge.

Katie from Redhill has sent us some great new tips for StoryLab volunteers about different ways to get the most out of volunteering.

Volunteering tips and recommendations

Colouring Pages and Mazes

From my experience of volunteering this Summer, I would recommend getting the children involved with the StoryLab colouring pages and mazes, even if they were to take them home. The children were really trying to colour in between the lines well, which kept them entertained whilst their parents were filling in their application form for the StoryLab reading challenge.

Advertising

Also, make sure you advertise the next StoryLab activity with enthusiasm, as this will help the children be more willing to read and join in with the StoryLab fun.

Craft Day

Redhill library also held a craft day, which I'm not sure if other libraries did, but if not I'd recommend asking about this. It is fairly cheap to run and there was a reasonable turnout on the day, and because of the olympic theme this year, we incorporated the olympic torch and painted the olympic rings, which worked really well and the kids loved it!

Go for It!

I'd recommend to anyone who is thinking about volunteering for StoryLab or next year's Summer reading challenge to do so, as it is great fun, although it means missing a few hours of summer holiday, it is well worth it to give something back to the community you live in.