With summer now officially over, students have had time to reflect on summer volunteer opportunities. One of the most common places to volunteer is the Queens Public Library, which offers various ways for students to gain experience over the summer. 

These volunteer opportunities need not only occur during the summer. The Homework Helper and Library Aide programs are some of the ongoing projects that are being offered. Ongoing projects require students to commit at least two to four hours per week to the project. They tend to be open-ended without a specified due date. Single-day projects often require three to five hours of volunteer work. Students can search for upcoming projects and filter for one-day opportunities when searching on the Queens Library Volunteer website. 

Aaron Su, a sophomore at Edgemont High School, was a volunteer at the summer lunch program the library offered people under the age of eighteen. “This opportunity really helped with my social skills and just in general with work experience,” he said.

“I met friends, opened up to speaking in public, learned to deal with customers as well as kids and the elderly, and ultimately got to know my community better,” said Rachel Hong, a junior from Stuyvesant high school who had been volunteering at Queens Public Library for about a year.

The library also offers the Peer-to-Peer Service Collective, where students can propose and lead their own community service projects. These projects range from workshops, and presentations to a variety of other activities. To propose an idea, students are required to submit documents and complete an online application. After applying, the library may reach out to a student and follow up with next steps or an interview to initiate their project. 

Scott McLeod, the Director of Civic Engagement for Queens Public Library, said they have offered workshops on topics like how to score high on the SHSAT and creative methods of teaching math. In some cases, up to 150 students end up attending the sessions overall.

Mr. McLeod said, “The collective was born out of formalizing this process that we had been doing for a number of years of meeting with kids and working with high school students to put together these workshops…it really starts with the ideas that high school students may have to teach and inform others.”

THHS junior Stephanie Lin, who has volunteered at the Queens Public Library for three summers, said “ I’ve found that their opportunities are very easily accessible as well as versatile when it comes to scheduling. During the acceptance process, your supervisor will reach out to you and ask you to list days you are available to volunteer as well as the times. This makes it easy to volunteer, as you choose the days you are able to and there is no pressure to work long hours if you do not wish to.”

“We have stuff for kids regardless of what your temperament is. You have stuff that’s behind the scenes or directly with the public. It’s flexible. We have opportunities after school, on the weekend and in the summertime,” said Mr. McLeod.