How to Find a Volunteer Reading Opportunity that’s Right for You

This is the time of year that local school systems kick off their volunteer programs, so if you’ve been thinking about becoming a volunteer, this is a great time of year to start!

There are advantages to starting your volunteering journey at the beginning of the school year. One advantage is that local schools may host volunteer events where you can meet like-minded people to learn from and work with. It was at one of these types of events that I met my mentor (thank you Sara!) and she has been extremely helpful to me. Also schools may offer some formal training at this time of year. And it’s a great time to start working with the kids because you’re all getting to know one another - and it gives you all year to get to know your students and develop relationships with them.

So how do you find reading volunteer opportunities in your community? Start by looking for announcements from your local school system. Keep in mind that there’s very little in school budgets these days to organize volunteers, so you may need to be proactive to find a volunteer position that’s right for you.

Start by searching in your web browser for “<your county> school district volunteers”. That will normally bring you to a page to sign up as a general volunteer (but the page may not go into what volunteer roles are available). The page should also provide contact information for the volunteer coordinator for the district. From there, you can call or email the coordinator to get more information about how to find the best opportunity for you.

In my experience, most schools have a volunteer coordinator assigned specifically to each school. So, another approach is to determine what local school you would like to volunteer at, and call or email that school directly. Tell them that you’d like to be a volunteer reader for the school. Tell them the grade that you would prefer to work with. In my experience, Pre-Kindergarten kids are the perfect age to work with because they are old enough to pay attention to the books, yet young enough to fall in love with them.

If you prefer working with older kids, many schools appreciate volunteers for that age range as well. For older kids, this role is more like a reading tutor. You will sit with the student while they read the book, correcting and helping as needed.

Ideally, your school system will have some training available for the volunteers. If no formal training is available, I would suggest asking to ‘shadow’ an existing volunteer as a way to learn the basics and get started.

There are also some nationwide organizations that offer volunteer reading programs in local communities. The AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program ) provides programs all over the US to match volunteer opportunities to people 55 and older. This is the organization that I worked thru to obtain my position in St. Johns County, Fl. (see RSVP St. Johns). Go to Americorps Senior’s Pathfinder page and search for programs in your state and county. Click on the “Filter” button to narrow down the information to your state and county. Other nationwide programs to look into are National Literacy Directory, and Reading Partners.

There are also likely to be reading volunteer organizations specifically for your geographical area. For example, in Duval County, Fl. there is a program called Read USA which includes a literacy coaching program as well as free book fairs. In Brevard County, Fl. contact the Rolling Readers for the Space Coast.

Your local library system is also a great place to look for volunteer opportunities. Keep in mind that libraries tend to offer these opportunities to students (only). They do this because high school and college students often need volunteer hours to graduate, so the libraries tend to save their volunteer positions for this purpose.

Wherever you decide to donate your precious time and energy… thank you! What a difference you will make! I’m here to help you any way I can. Feel free to reach out to me, and look for other topics on the site to help you navigate your volunteering journey.

If you have any experience with literacy/reading volunteer programs that you have worked with, please share your experience with us in the comments below, or by joining the discussion on Facebook. Thank you!