What do our volunteers mean to you? We’d love to hear your stories!

We’re so appreciative of all the important things that volunteers do for the Library. Volunteers transcribe print materials to create Braille and audio books, providing access to our Library patrons and IDB clients. These transcriptions are crucial for education or job training and retention, but they are also important for community involvement, reading for information, spiritual enrichment, or just plain pleasure.

Volunteers also help with many other daily Library and IDB functions. They repair machines and do clerical work, they offer to be drivers or readers, they mentor blind teens, and a myriad of other things that help us provide needed services to Iowans.

How have our volunteers had an impact on your life? Was there a narrator whose reading was particularly affecting to you? Do you have a story of getting that important Braille transcription “just in time”? Did someone go the extra mile to make your experience even better? What might your life be like without the dedicated cadre of volunteers cultivated by the Library?

We would like to share some of your stories with our volunteers when we honor their service at the annual Elizabeth Perowsky Volunteer Luncheon on April 11th. It means so much to them to hear how their work impacts the lives of our patrons. There are several ways for you to tell your tale.

You can record a voicemail message by calling the audio recording studio at 515 281-1387 or use the toll-free number 800 362-2587 and have the receptionist route your call. You can include your name, just your town, or you can leave your message anonymously, it’s your choice. You can also record your message on a digital recorder and email the audio file to the address listed below. We’ll play excerpts of these messages for volunteers during the luncheon. As you know, there is nothing quite so personal as hearing someone’s story in their own voice.

You can also write, email or call with your story. Contact your Reader Advisor or send your stories to the Library. Here’s how:

Volunteer Stories
Iowa Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
524 4th Street
Des Moines, Iowa 50309
Email: karen.schweitzer@blind.state.ia.us [1]

Thank you for your stories!