Greetings from the Indiana State Library! Thank you all for your warm response to The Wednesday Word: News from the Indiana State Library. Volunteering is a powerful force for change, both for those who volunteer and for the wider community.  Today, I’d like to let you know about the positive work of some volunteers.  

1) Last week, the ISL was thrilled to welcome an enthusiastic group of volunteers from Rolls Royce.  On a mission to give back to Indy, the Rolls-Royce Intern/Co-op program devoted a day to participating in community service projects all around Indianapolis.  Our new friends from Rolls Royce spent their time with us boxing up materials and transporting them to their new home on another floor.  (Now here’s where I must confess that some of these materials had not been dusted in quite some time and that this may not have been the cleanest volunteer assignment of the day.)  Ron Rose, the ISL facilities manager, estimates that the volunteers saved our staff a week’s worth of work.  Ron said, “We appreciate the energy of these volunteers and their interest in the state library.  Come back anytime!”

2) Marcia Smith-Woodard of the ISL Library Development Office has graduated from Class XVII of the Leadership Training and Development for Diversity Series, a program of United Way of Central Indiana.  The program identifies and develops emerging leaders from racial minority groups and prepares them to serve as decision makers in community organizations.  This local initiative allows the United Way of Central Indiana’s family of agencies and other community nonprofit organizations to recruit qualified, board-ready minority volunteers to serve on boards and committees.  Marcia has chosen to serve on the Literacy Plus Board, providing literacy programs to help homeless adults build basic skills, knowledge and independence.  Marcia’s participation in the program was supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the ISL.

We thank Rolls-Royce for their contribution to the state library and we thank Marcia for her contribution to the Literacy Plus Board.  Their efforts make our community a better place to work and live.

For more information about the ISL, please visit us in downtown Indy or online at www.statelib.lib.in.us