Volunteer Spotlight
In their own words, Joel shares their volunteer journey with us.
I first visited the library on a university trip, and then took part in the amazing Digitising Radical Motherhood Digitisation event. It was so fascinating getting to read through the Library’s materials, and it made me want to get involved with archives and help make sure even more people could get to see them. Since then, I have volunteered cataloguing and organising some of the Library’s archival collections, and have worked across a range of different collections which has been amazing and has allowed me to learn so much, including how to catalogue and conserve archival material. My work at the library (as well as being really fun) has enabled greater access to the collections as people are now able to search the Library database for what they are looking for, and can find items in organised boxes, rather than somewhere within a large collection. It has also really made me realise how much I love archiving and I am now considering doing a course to become qualified as an accredited archivist in the future. I am so grateful to the WCML for letting me volunteer and for letting me get so involved in looking after the collections!
If you are interested in learning more about volunteering at the Working Class Movement Library, then check out our volunteering page.