Want to know more about the Macao Publ ic Library volunteer team? Asking the volunteers to share their own experience would be the best way to unveil the little secrets behind them.
Mr. Chan Wing
Participating area: Research and Publications Group
Volunteering period: 2007 to present
Mr. Chan is a person of such energy and stamina that we can hardly consider him as elderly, probably thanks to his thirst for knowledge which speaks for itself, a pursuit of vitality which benefits him at the same time. It was when the recruiting requirements were relaxed, especially for the volunteers’ age, that he joined the volunteer team. He believes that he should seize every opportunity to make contributions to society.
Mr. Chan is now a major editor of Sprout, one of the periodicals published by the Public Library. To produce the best works for each issue, the Research and Publications Group, which is responsible for writing all the articles, have sacrificed much of their personal time to ‘brainstorm’ and further develop the concept of reading onto the pieces of paper. When asked about the reasons for joining the volunteer team, he answered with a giggle, as he always does, that helping others will generate dopamine and, in turn, make people younger and healthier, and he believes that fate can be changed through the acquisition of knowledge. Meanwhile, he is also an active participant of teambuilding activities organized by the Public Library, such as the visit to Hong Kong Central Library, Hong Kong Film Archive and Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence, from which he has greatly benefited.
Ms. Chan Gui In (Jess)
Participating area: Reader Services and Promotion Group (Storytelling mommy-volunteer)
Volunteering period: 2004 to present
Jess, an optimistic lady who always beams with smiles, is actually a grandma and, we can say, a senior volunteer since she has been volunteering for over a decade. She is among the first batch of mommy-volunteers recruited by the IACM in 2004. Good at telling children stories and teaching them to do arts and crafts, mommy-volunteers have won the hearts of numerous loyal fans over the years.
Speaking of the work area in the Public Library that interests her, Jess said that she has worked in most of the areas except Research and Publications. Gatherings, such as the talk held at Carmo Hall, are also held among volunteers in different groups. She still remembers the very unforgettable process of being interviewed for a volunteer position – impromptu storytelling. She was admitted in the end, thanks to the previous experiences of telling stories to her children. She also mentioned that her niece joined the first junior volunteer team in 2003 and she became a mommy-volunteer the following year. It seems that volunteering has become a tradition of her whole family.
Mr. Leung Yan Ying
Participating area: Library Docent Group (Guided tour service for the Chinese Ancient Books Chamber)
Volunteering period: Over half a year
Mr. Leung, who has been engaging in external trade, is so deeply interested in several fields such as history, culture and reading that he has taken relevant courses as well. He knew about the library volunteer scheme from a parent of his kid’s classmate who was working in the Public Library. On 10th June last year, he took part in a history and culture-themed open day and decided to join the volunteer team.
Exposure to novelties, apart from serving the community, is the biggest meaning of being a volunteer in Mr. Leung’s opinion. In a broader sense, one can attain self-growth in a way in which one breaks through their current work areas and obtains the sense of achievement. Furthermore, volunteering has enlightened him on the importance of caring for people around him.
He thinks there are too many interesting anecdotes to count in his volunteering experience. Despite joining the volunteer team for only half a year, he finds he has learned and understood more as he met and interacted with different individuals and groups in each guided tour. During a tour when he served a group of Chinese American architects, for example, they had in-depth exchanges and discussions on the calligraphy of certain display items in the library. The elderly architects considered the style of writing is more like the one of Yan Zhenqing or Su Dongpo while he saw it as Liu Gongquan style. The input and output of knowledge are what appeals to him the most.
Lam Chak Weng (Eric)
Participating area: Reader Services and Promotion Group (Circulation Services in Taipa Library)
Volunteering period: Over half a year
Eric is able to elaborate on the daily routines of the Public Library as though enumerating his family valuables, even though he is a senior high school student at the moment. Back at the time of his first experience of library duties – when his teacher brought a group of students including him to the Public Library – he was still a junior high school student, rather passive and bashful. Nonetheless, he became more active and optimistic after officially joining the library volunteer team.
Being a library volunteer not only allows adolescents to think systematically and gain actual working experience but also trains them become more mature with better interpersonal skills. Eric still remembers how the three days and two nights camping trip to Zhuhai organized by the volunteer team immensely enhanced his team spirit and a variety of skills, during which he also made some like-minded friends. Now that he has been working at the branch library for quite a long time, people from the neighbourhood can recognize himand the library-frequenting kids always greet him with friendliness when seeing him on the street. Such amity is what touches Eric’s heart and further motivates him to work as a library volunteer.
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Ms. Tang Mou Fai
Participating area: Reader Services and Promotion Group (Volunteer of Reading Area at Library in Ho Yin Garden)
Volunteering period: Over 5 years
Ms. Tang first knew about the library volunteer team from TDM. She believes that as a Macao-born resident, she ought to do something for the city whenever possible. She is mainly responsible for assisting the library in arranging magazines and shelving books, among other duties. She said that the ages of volunteers varied in the library, with the youngest being a high school student. She normally works for around two hours on Saturdays and Sundays, respectively, partnering with a quiet girl.
She finds it very touching whenever she sees parents bringing their children to look for their favourite books in the library, as most of the adults and kids nowadays prefer computers and cell phones to books. Moreover, it was very considerate for the Public Library to organize an exchange trip to Shenzhen for the volunteers last November. She believes that volunteers can find happiness in the action itself while providing assistance to others and easing certain burdens of library staff. So,why not?
Miss Tam Pou I
Participating area: Reader Services and Promotion Group (Circulation services in Macao Central Library)
Volunteering period: Nearly a year
Miss Tam is serving as a librarian in the Macao Orchestra, which shares a very similar job nature with the Public Library counterpart. This is what appealed to her when she first saw the recruitment poster for library volunteers. She is mainly responsible for circulation services in the library, such as working as a receptionist at the front desk and shelving books. Circulation services are regarded as the frontline service of a library, aiming to serve readers of different ages. In the Macao Central Library, the Newspapers and Periodicals Reading Area always attracts many seniors to read newspapers and magazines. They greet Miss Tam whenever they come across her, and they have seen her so many times that they have started to recognize her as a volunteer of the library.
Miss Tam considers that the volunteers have a rather flexible schedule, which can fit in with that of her full-time job, as long as she communicates with the relevant library staff in advance. Therefore, she normally chooses to work in the library on Saturdays and Sundays. She said that volunteering can spice up her life with opportunities to learn more. She is eager to try working in each volunteer group, but unfortunately, her full-time job schedule does not allow her to do so. Nevertheless, the Public Library encourages volunteers to participate in different fields. For instance, the Public Library invites interested volunteers to participate in library activities such as ‘e-lesson’, which is a precious learning opportunity for her.
