Alameda County Library

Help your fellow teens find the best books by signing up to be a Virtual Book Volunteer.  Virtual Book Volunteers use our online catalog, https://aclibrary.bibliocommons.com/, to find books to read and, once finished, write a book review for our site.  They can also create customized book lists based on a favorite topic or to recommend "readalikes" of their favorite title. Links to reviews and book lists will be sent to our librarians for review.  You might even have yours published on the library website! 

In order to volunteer as a Virtual Book Reviewer, you must meet the following requirements.

Requirements

• You must create an account on our library catalog page: https://aclibrary.bibliocommons.com/
• You must be 13-17 years old
• Book lists you write need to contain at least 10 titles and include comments about each title on the list
• Book reviews you write must be at least 100 words, written by you, and include some information about the book’s plot, as well as what you thought of the book/story/characters/setting etc. 
• Both book reviews and book lists must be made public in order to share them.

Once you're signed up for this program email us using the “Contact” tab at the bottom right of the library's website at aclibrary.org.  Please include the name of the book or book list you’ve created along with the URL of the review or list so the librarian can review it and award you volunteer hours.

You can learn about our new catalog and creating book lists using this tutorial about creating lists.

Additional information on how to create a book list can be found here: https://help.bibliocommons.com/025ug/010comments/ You can find additional information about adding a book review here: https://help.bibliocommons.com/030lists/005creating-lists/

After you apply, you will receive an e-mail response within 24-48 hours, depending on when you apply. Please check your Spam folder for that response, if you don't see it in your Inbox.

* Note for parents: Please have your teen fill out the application with their contact information, as they will be the one volunteering.

**Note for first time applicants: When you apply, please do not enter a school e-mail address. Any e-mails to school e-mail addresses from outside organizations will bounce back.