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The volunteers who staff our Museum during public hours are not "docents" or "tour guides," but "Hosts." Your talent for hospitality is put to good use in welcoming our guests and making them feel at home in our Museum surroundings. All the training that is required is a briefing from the Host in charge. Afterwards, Hosts help guests with parking, signing the guest book, navigating through the museum, and general questions. No special knowledge of the collection or Newark history is required, you only need a smiling face, a welcoming attitude, and the joy of interacting with our guests. Hosts work during the hours when the Museum is open: the first Sunday in April through the last Sunday in November, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm. A sign-up sheet is circulated by e-mail to gather volunteers for specific dates. You can work as few or as many Sundays as you wish. Occasionally the Museum is open for special tour groups outside of regular hours, and Hosts are needed on those days as well. Collections Care Team members work on most Tuesdays and Fridays, year-round, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, and at other days and times by arrangement. Volunteers work in one or more of the following capacities: Collections Care: Collections Care involves cataloging, tagging, storing, organizing, preserving, making a computer record of, and photographing artifacts in the Museum's collection. Previous experience in a library or museum setting is helpful, but not necessary. You will receive all the training you need here at the Newark Historical Society Museum. Students looking for experience in museum studies fields are encouraged to volunteer. Facilities: Facilites maintenance involves building, maintaining, and caring for the museum and its displays. Most tasks are easy for anyone who is handy with tools. Creative minds are wanted for help in constructing and maintaining museum displays. Occasionally the Facilities Team is asked to help set up Historical Society displays at outside events such as Newark Community Day in September. Display: Volunteers who are interested in designing museum displays can work with the Collections Care and Facilities volunteers to present the best of Newark's history. Help is needed to improve standing exhibits and to design rotating displays. You can be responsible for an exhibit from start to finish, and you can take pleasure in having your display enjoyed by the visitors to our Museum. The members of the Newark Historical Society's Research Team are amateur history detectives. They work on most Tuesdays and Fridays, year-round, from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm, and on other days and times by arrangement, helping to answer incoming questions about Newark history. They work with the Collections Care Team to learn the history of artifacts in the collection. They work with the Display Team to create museum exhibits that will engage the public's curiosity. Using the resources available in the Newark Historical Society Museum and other repositories, they also research topics of their own interest to share on the Society's website and Facebook page, include in the Society's Newsletter, and present at Newark Historical Society meetings. |