City of San José

Help our non-profit organization (Friends of Grace) with grant writing, fundraising, soliciting donations, or being on the board. 

Are you looking for a fun way to volunteer from home? San José Public Library is looking for avid book readers interested in writing book reviews. Each book you review counts as one hour of volunteering. You can write up to 10 reviews per quarter for a maximum of 10 hours. 

How You Will Make a Difference

Teen Book Reviewers play a pivotal role in encouraging other teens to read the same fun books from our library catalog that you're reading. 

Volunteers are needed to:

• Write a book review following these guidelines 
  
  • Book review must be one paragraph long
  • Include a short summary of the book
  • Write about what you liked or disliked about the book
  • Avoid spoilers 
• Send your review to a designated branch librarian. The librarian will ensure it meets the guidelines and get back to you
• Once you hear from the librarian, post your review on our library catalog, sjpl.bibliocommons.com
  
  • Give it an Age rating and a Star rating
  • Make sure your review is made public so that it can be seen
• Send the librarian a screenshot of your review, and BOOM! You’ve just earned an hour of volunteer service 

Benefits

• Promotes a love of lifelong reading among youth
• Connect with your community and provide a desired service
• Share your opinions of author's writings
• Develop writing skills

Commitment/Schedule

You can write up to 10 reviews per quarter for a maximum of 10 hours. Schedule is dependent on the availability of the volunteer.

Quarter Breakdown

July-September: 10 book reviews

October-Dec: 10 book reviews

January-March: 10 book reviews

April-June: 10 book reviews

Please only sign up for one library branch for this volunteer opportunity.

Youth Commission is the official advisory group for the City of San Jose. Youth Commissioners are appointed and engage other teens in Youth Advisory Councils.

Two types:

• Virtual Program Opportunities: those that involve interaction between you and other library customers (live interaction.)

• Virtual Library Services: Opportunities that don’t require any interaction between you and other library customers (recorded interaction.)

For Teens Reach meetings and similar activities