East Lothian Council Library Services

East Lothian Council Library Service is a major community and educational facility whose purpose is to safeguard, promote and improve the social, economic, environmental and democratic well-being of the people of East Lothian through enabling them to gain unbiased access to books, information, knowledge and works of creative imagination which will:

  • encourage their active participation in cultural, democratic and economic activites
  • enable them to participate in educational development through formal and informal programmes
  • assist them to make positive use of their leisure time.
  • promote reading and literacy.
  • encourage the use of information and an awareness of it's value.

Current opportunities

Lego clubs consist of a weekly 1 hour drop-in session in libraries. Lego Clubs are suitable for children aged 8 and over. Younger children to be accompanied by an adult. The role of the volunteer is just to supervise children, ensuring that they are safe.They are also expected to engage with children and to ensure that the club runs smoothly. Lego Club Volunteers need to be members of the PVG scheme.

Homework clubs are a service from East Lothian Libraries. They consist of a 1 hour drop-in session, run by a volunteer Homework Club Leader with the assistance of a volunteer Homework Club Helper. Primary School Children can come and do their homework at their local library where they would benefit from space to study, access to a wide selection of books, online resources, word processing and supervised internet access. The volunteers would supervise children, support them in completing their homework, assist them with using the range of research tools available in the library, and encourage them to search the library shelves for books that might be relevant to their needs. They will also be asked to complete a small amount of administration and paperwork involved in the running of the club. Volunteering with the homework clubs would provide an exciting opportunity for anyone who is interested in working with children whether as a teacher, in a nursery or as a youth worker and would enhance any application for university. The majority of club members will be aged 8-12 (P4-7), but, depending on the Homework Club Leader, some clubs may accept children from P1. The aim of the homework clubs is to provide a safe friendly environment for children within the library where they can come together and work on their homework. Volunteers offer support but do not teach the children.

Library staff make up bags of books for readers based on a profile which each reader completes. The volunteer then collects bags of books for up to 5 people from the library on a designated day and delivers them to each reader on a list. They will collect books which the reader has finished with and return these to the library. The volunteer often passes on information from readers about book choices and requests etc.

Bookbug sessions are free story, song and rhyme sessions aimed at babies and preschool children and their parent/carer. Each session lasts around 30 minutes, it’s free to take part and there is no need to book. Bookbug sessions help to build children’s confidence and social skills, aid language development and early literacy, foster emotional and social wellbeing and most importantly are lots of fun. Full training and the opportunity to sit in on an established leader session would be given before leading your own sessions.