Austin Public Library Docent Program
Austin Public Library, Texas
Innovation Synopsis
Program, modeled after those in museums, provides tours and information to customers in our new six-story Central Library. Docents learn a tour script and give walk-in or private tours of points of interest throughout the building. Because they are located near the circulation desk, they also provide informational assistance to customers.
Challenge/Opportunity
The new Central Library is a draw to both local customers and out-of-town visitors. With six floors, an art gallery, gift shop, restaurant and special event center, it can be overwhelming to visitors. The docents conduct tours and help customers figure out where they can find materials and which staff service points to go to for assistance. The docent program also offers a way for customers who love the library to get involved, learn more about the space and become invested in our services and programs.
Key Elements of Innovation
When planning the program, we reached out to other city departments to see how they utilized volunteers and translated it to the needs of a library space. We used our volunteers’ previous experience to plan and grow our program, and we polled volunteers who helped the library on opening day to find out what worked or didn’t with the tours. We rewrote the tour script with this input, recruited a pool of volunteers and planned a comprehensive training that incorporated our existing volunteers as trainers.
Achieved Outcomes
Since January 2019, the docent program has provided over 62 scheduled public and private tours with each tour ranging in size between two and 50 attendees. In a typical week, the docent team collectively volunteers around 30 hours of their time. With a current national average volunteer rate of $24.69, the docents save the Austin Public Library over $38,000 per year. Our docents have also become some of our most loyal volunteers, often offering to help us with special events and programming.
