Volunteers honored at library awards event

Numbers tell the story when talking about the dedicated volunteers at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library. In 2014, 452 volunteers contributed 28,498 hours of service to the library. On Tuesday, May 5, their efforts were recognized by library trustees and staff at the annual Volunteer Recognition Luncheon funded by the Friends of the Library.

"I'm in awe every year when I come to this event," said Executive Director Jason Kuhl who welcomed the crowd and presented the volunteer service awards. "We appreciate everything you do and all the hours you put in contributing to the library."

And put in hours they do. Nearly 40 volunteers were recognized for achieving service milestones, contributing from 500 hours up to 15,000 volunteer hours, in all areas of the library including genealogy, ESL, Friends of the Library and the bookmobile. Additional volunteers were also recognized for years of service, spanning from 3 years to 25 years. Special honorees included Don Hartung and Jim Anderson who received the President's Lifetime Service Award. Each has volunteered at the library for more than 20 years and has contributed 4,000 plus hours of service. Anderson volunteers as a Great Books book discussion facilitator and Hartung assists with maintaining the toy collection in Kids' World.

The top honor of the day went to Terry Gavin who was named Volunteer of the Year. This is a one-time award that is given to the volunteer who has contributed the greatest number of hours during the previous year but has not previously received the award. Gavin earned Volunteer of the Year for contributing 421 hours of service to the library in 2014 volunteering as an instructor for the computer program at the library's Senior Center.

"I love helping people, and I enjoy working with everyone at the senior center," said Gavin who began volunteering at the library in 2006. "It's fun. They've given me more than I've given them."