Dear ARLISians!
As I museum librarian in search of additional help, I've always been limited
in our use of volunteers by the fact that they aren't bonded. For instance,
we can never leave them alone to run the library because the institution has
no contractual agreement with them. I wondered if any other librarians have
had any experience with bonding their volunteers. Is it possible? Is it
expensive? Do they need some training in employee procedures such as
disaster preparedness, accidents, etc.?
In addition to possibly getting more use from bonded volunteers I wondered
about another enticement. Could a museum or library offer some sort of
letter contract to a volunteer in which they would agree to "work" for a
fixed number of hours on a schedule. At the end of the year (or time period
specified in the letter contract) they would receive a letter from the
institution for a "donation of a gift in kind" of their time worth a
reasonable amount of money set by prevailing wage for their type of work in
that part of the country. This seems to me to be a parallel to lawyers
donating their time in pro bono work or doctors donating their time. Has
anyone tried this? Would the IRS challenge this type of donation? If the
law is unclear on this, perhaps the law should be modified to allow donation
of one's time at a reasonable rate for an income tax deduction. Any
thoughts? Feel free to contact me offline, but I'll bet others would like
to hear this discussion.
Regards to all!
Linda Zoeckler
Head, Huntington Art Reference Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108
(626) 405-2228
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