Teen Volunteer Program

The Boston Public Library Teen Volunteer Program is an unpaid volunteer role for high school students in grades 9 through 12 who want hands-on work experience at a public library. Volunteers help with everyday library tasks such as shelving books, tracking down missing items, building book displays, and putting together reading lists. Some volunteers also help run gaming programs and tournaments, and many write book reviews for the library's teen website. The program aims to build job-ready skills like customer service and working with a wide range of people. Every volunteer takes part in five skill-building workshops held on Zoom on Mondays at 4:00 PM, covering resume building, privacy, workplace rights, the BiblioCommons catalog, and book review writing. Placements are offered at 11 library sites, including the Central Library, Teen Central, Brighton, Codman Square, East Boston, Grove Hall, Hyde Park, Mattapan, Roslindale, Shaw-Roxbury, and West Roxbury. Teens can volunteer in the fall semester (September to December), the spring semester (January to June), or both. There are no summer placements.

Open to students in grades 9 through 12. Volunteers commit to at least 36 hours per semester and may serve up to 50. To apply, students fill out the online application form, which asks for their school, grade, preferred branch, and availability (Mondays 4:00-5:30 PM preferred), plus a short answer on why they want to volunteer. Questions go to the library's volunteer coordinator.