When Lore Reick, 13, thought about accumulating volunteer hours for National Junior Honor Society (NJHS), it wasn’t hard for him to decide to complete them at OPL’s Florence Branch, opens a new window. Following in his older sister’s footsteps, Reick chose to volunteer at the library near their family’s home, which he visited regularly growing up to check out “a lot of books and movies.”
“[My sister] volunteered here for four years and she really liked coming and helping out with events,” Reick said.
Since he started volunteering in November 2019, he has mostly helped with shelving materials, pulling holds, and other tasks that the staff needed help completing. When he first started, he had to learn the Dewey Decimal System, but said it was a quick process. He believes that more people should learn how it works, to help make the library work better for everyone.
“A lot of people just stick books in random places and they have to be fixed later,” Reick says. “If more people learn how the system works, less fixes have to be done and everyone can find what they want faster.”
Despite only needing three service hours each month for NJHS, Reick has already accumulated 27.5 volunteer hours in three months, to his friends’ amazement. When they ask how he has so many hours already, he encourages them to try volunteering at an OPL location near them because “it’s very simple to shelve things, it’s easy to learn quickly and it’s a nice community,” said Reick. He also enjoys perks like setting aside any movies he wants to watch while he’s shelving to take home at the end of his shift.
Reick plans to continue his involvement with National Honor Society in high school, and said that he will continue volunteering at the library, one of the many reasons why he was nominated by the branch staff to be spotlighted.
“Lore is a unique addition to the Florence Branch with his ceaseless joy and entertaining conversations,” said Florence Branch youth services librarian Rebecca Agler. “This makes working with him a highlight of our day. Lore views all tasks with the excitement and readiness to learn that makes him stand out as an exceptional OPL volunteer.”
If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering at OPL, visit your neighborhood branch or omahalibrary.org/volunteer, opens a new window for more information.
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