A3.5 Outline for a Volunteer Handbook

Welcome/Messages from the Chairperson and/or the local MPP, mayor or other dignitaries

Emergency contact information (listed right at beginning of the Handbook)

  1. Literacy statistics; national, regional and local literacy perspectives/issues
  2. History, agency background
  3. Glossary, literacy field abbreviations, definitions, acronyms
  4. The Ontario literacy scene (how funders and support organizations work together)
  5. Philosophy, mission, goals, guiding principles, Core Quality Standards
  6. Policies which apply to volunteers
  7. Staff and board organizational charts
  8. Volunteer job descriptions
  9. Expense claim forms
  10. Attendance logs
  11. Code of conduct for volunteers
  12. Volunteer Bill of Rights
  13. Program statistics, summaries of client numbers, and other service achievements
  14. Copies of agreements signed with the agency
  1. Forms for lesson planning
  2. Tips and teaching strategies for literacy tutoring
  3. Tips and teaching strategies for numeracy
  4. Community resources and where to go for more help
  5. How to access special resources such as Alpha Plus and STAPLE
  6. Suggested books, reading and learning materials
  7. Introduction to a learning outcomes approach to adult literacy
  8. Helping learners set goals
  9. How to work with training plans
  10. The tutor’s role in assessment and evaluation of learner’s progress
  11. Section for notes from orientation/ training sessions/workshops
  12. Suggestion forms (for the anonymous suggestion box)
  13. Training opportunities for professional and career development in literacy

(Adapted from The Literacy Volunteers’ Handbook, a project by the Ottawa-Carleton Coalition for Literacy, completion date: fall 1999)