+91 9164454243 haadibadi@gmail.com

Volunteer with Us

Owing to the COVID crisis and keeping the social distancing norms in mind, children’s safety is our utmost priority and hence the community library is temporarily shut down until further notice.
We currently do not accept any applications for volunteering at the library. However we invite the interested applicants to volunteer in other ways mentioned below:
1. Digitising library catalogue
2. Reading/Recording/Editing stories or content for our online library
3. Fundraising – Reaching out and connecting to various funding agencies/ Communicating with donors, collaborators for grant opportunities

Just one more step to become volunteer of our organisation Volunteer Form

Please read through the points carefully and then proceed to apply :

As a volunteer, one becomes a part of the Haadibadi family and hence it is important to follow certain guidelines for smooth functioning of the community library as well as its digital platform.
1. Volunteers must be willing to commit to the given work and communicate their preferences clearly.
2. Volunteers must respect and welcome children of all ages irrespective of their caste, gender, race, linguistic, social, cultural or economic background, religious or political beliefs, etc.
3. It is also important to respect the members’ choices of reading materials and help them explore the world of reading by supporting them in different ways.
4. We strictly forbid any kind of inappropriate behaviour (physical contact, verbal or nonverbal communication) with children that may make them feel uncomfortable.
5. Volunteers must seek the consent of the child or the parent before posting any of their photos on social media platforms. Also, any kind of content that might offend a person or a community should be avoided.
6. While posting digital content, it is important to take measures against copyright infringement.
7. For tasks involving communication with various individuals or groups, volunteers must maintain professional relationship.
8. Any information pertaining to the community library and its members should not be disclosed to a third-party unless it involves legal or professional purpose.

Haadibadi believes that child safety is a society-wide responsibility. We believe that it is unacceptable for a child or young adult to experience any kind of abuse and recognize our responsibility to safeguard the welfare of all children by a commitment to a practice that protects them.

Purpose of the Policy
Every child has a right to feel safe and secure at our community libraries, and all management, staff and volunteers have the responsibility to ensure that this protection is provided. This policy provides guidelines, procedures and a framework of best practices to be adopted to make the library a safe place for a child to use and enjoy, and in the event a child may be experiencing or, is at risk of, harm. The policy applies to all staff, management, volunteers, the student council, and anyone else working with or on behalf of Haadibadi.

General guidelines to be followed by all Management, Staff and Volunteers for ensuring child safety:

• Always treat children with respect and dignity
• Always listen to what a child is saying and value them as individuals.
• Always use appropriate language with children, and challenge the use of inappropriate language by any young person or adult, while working with children.
• Always ensure that another member of staff/volunteer listens and/or observes, when you are in a difficult or sensitive situation involving a child.
• Avoid being alone with a child.
• One-to-one meeting with a child should take place openly and in public view.
• If the one-to-one meeting with a child requires privacy, always ensure that someone from the staff/management is informed of the meeting and its whereabouts.
• Comfort a child who is obviously distressed, but always remain in public view.
• Never initiate physical contact with a child.
• Never engage in sexually provocative actions or speech or rough physical games.
• Never do things of a personal nature that the child can do for themselves, for example, accompany to the toilet, or assist in adjusting their clothes. If a situation arises, where, for example, a child has limited mobility or motor skills, ensure that another person from the staff/management is present alongside to deal with the situation.
• Never allow or engage in inappropriate touching of any kind with a child.
• Always report incidents or concerns related to child safety immediately to the Child Protection Committee.
Unsupervised or unaccompanied children
• All children below the age of 6 should be accompanied by a parent, care, an older sibling or another, suitable and responsible adult, unless they have obtained permission to visit the library unaccompanied from their parent/guardian. The community libraries should display a sign to this effect and all publicity related to children’s activities should include this statement.

• If a young child is unsupervised/unaccompanied and you are concerned for their safety:

o Ask the child if their parent, or older sibling are aware that they are here and if they are expecting/waiting for them.
o Try to contact the child’s parents, older siblings and check records of the child to get their address and contact information.

We thank The Community Library Project for the comprehensive Guidelines. TCLP is pioneer organisation in running Free and Open Libraries in New Delhi and continue to support the shared interests across the country.