The 2006 report Long Overdue: A Fresh Look at Public Attitudes About Libraries in the 21st Century, noted that American's who are active in their communities and vote regularly are also more likely to have a library card and favor taxes to support libraries. Even though they love libraries, the study also found that these civically engaged citizens have not been "called to action" on behalf of libraries.

At the same time, 78 million Baby Boomers, an already civically engaged group, are volunteering at higher rates than previous generations while they're still in the workforce, and expect to include volunteering as one of their retirement pursuits as well. Yet multiple studies have shown that Boomers' interest in volunteerism is vastly different from those of our current "senior volunteers," and that organizations seeking to recruit them need to adjust their volunteer engagement practices.

• Attracting Baby Boomers to Volunteer Service – introductory webinar with Carla Lehn (July 2008, 60 minutes)
• Engaging Boomers and Skilled Volunteers in your Library – webinar with Jennifer Bennett (April 2009, 60 minutes)
• Online Course in Volunteer Engagement – This course, available at no charge, was prepared for the Transforming Life After 50 Fellowship series by instructor Carla Lehn. Baby boomers and the generations that follow are seeking new ways to use their skills and experience to make a difference in their communities. Libraries are uniquely positioned to benefit from these volunteers. This course provides tools, techniques and models for volunteer engagement to help you be successful.
• TSt. Helena Case Study – Watch how thinking differently about baby boomer volunteers and how to engage them has transformed this small library in the Napa Valley (14 minutes)
• Bibliography on Baby Boomer Volunteer Engagement
• To learn more about the Baby Boom generation, visit the Transforming Life After Fifty website.

Questions about the Get Involved Initiative
Carla Lehn
Carla.Lehn@library.ca.gov