NCSU Libraries Focus Online

Volume 24 number 2 - Winter 2004

By Laura Hudson, North Carolina Literary Festival

The North Carolina Literary Festival needs you! This volunteer opportunity is perfect for anyone who wants to meet favorite authors or hone leadership skills while volunteering in a statewide event that will attract thousands of visitors to NC State University. Volunteer opportunities will maximize the time, interest, and abilities of each volunteer. Prefestival volunteer opportunities require the following expertise:

Writing Skills: Prepare press releases, grant proposals, or letters to volunteer groups.

Leadership Skills: Recruit, train, and supervise volunteers during the festival weekend.

Visual Display Skills: Assist in creating dramatic backdrops for speaking venues, design the "Children's Castle," or assist with the layout of outdoor exhibit space.

Fund-raising Skills: Identify potential funding sources; work with the program director to cultivate donors; prepare and send out fund-raising packets, thank you letters, etc.

Administrative Skills: Prepare mailings, answer inquiries, file, copy, and write correspondence.

Public Relations Skills: Assist with making phone calls to the media after press releases are sent; assist with distributing posters; assist in creating a successful experience for speakers, sponsors, and attendees.

The festival will be held on the NC State campus from April 15 through 18, 2004. Volunteer opportunities include assisting with set-up or break down of the event, serving as a session host to escort speakers to various venues, assisting with volunteer check-in, directing pedestrian traffic on campus, or assisting on-site exhibitors.

All volunteer activities will cultivate participants' skills and enhance their resumes. Indeed, there is something for everyone. Time commitments and schedules are flexible and will remain at the discretion of the volunteer as much as possible. Just two hours a month make a big difference in the success of the event. For more information, visit the festival Web site at http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/nclitfest2004 or call Laura Hudson, program director, at (919) 513-7315.