My friend Bill retired a while ago after selling a successful business he built from the ground up. He took some well-deserved time off and has participated in several travel adventures, including running death-defying whitewater in Africa. He has also worked on some remodeling projects and seen both his kids graduate and start their own lives. Bill has achieved most of his goals while balancing business and recreation and remaining a generous and honest man. However, even with all this success he often tells me something is missing, and he thinks he may have retired too soon. I think that maybe he has lost his sense of purpose. People get more than a paycheck for their labor. They can get recognition, respect, a feeling of achievement and a sense of mission. What they do may be a significant part of who they are — perhaps far more than they realize. 

If you find there is something missing in your life, by most accounts, one of the best ways to fill the void is by volunteering for a worthy organization. There are hundreds of organizations that need volunteers of all skill levels, and they come in every shape and size you can imagine. There are social services, cultural, civic, social justice, child development, healthcare and senior organizations that exist only because of their volunteers. You can volunteer long term or short term, or even on occasion. 

Of course, here in Ignacio we are looking for interested people who would like to volunteer at the library. There are also multiple ways you can volunteer here at the library. One of the most obvious would be to join the Friends of ICL. The Friends support literacy projects at the library, help with fundraising and are always in need of people willing to be on their board.  

If you’d rather work more independently, the library can use folks to help us keep the stacks organized or keep the building clean and maintained. There are opportunities for facilitating programs, organizing equipment, assisting with compiling or inputting data, writing grants, and more. Library work is quite varied so that no matter what your talents are or appetite for assisting, there is a niche for you to fill.  

Volunteering can be as rewarding to the individual as it is advantageous to the library. Aristotle (born: 384 BC) once said: “the essence of life is to serve others and do good.” If you have an interest in making a better world, please consider giving some of your precious time to serve at the library to help the library do good for the community.