In 2007, I volunteered at the Beaman Library every week. The permanent staff invested a lot of training in me that year and I was able to do a lot for them; I shelved books, weeded the collection, fulfilled ILL requests, recorded stats for the state government, processed new weekly material acquisitions, entered holdings into the regional database and worked at the front desk. I also helped on a number of special projects.
And then I got a new job. With a horrendous commute. And long hours. And I stopped volunteering. Just like that. All those training hours lost. And the work left to do. And there was nothing the Director could do to manage the loss in the short-term except thank me for my service.
