To many people, volunteer work is for "nerds." Actually, volunteer work is for anybody and everybody, and not only makes you feel good about yourself but, at the same time, helps other people.

As a volunteer at the New City Library, once a week, I spend an hour helping the young adult librarian. When my work is done, I feel I have helped in one way or another.

When I first began to volunteer at the library, I didn't want people to label me as a "goodie two-shoes," so I didn't tell many people. I needed community service hours for the National Junior Honor Society. Even after I found I didn't need this requirement, I continued my work as a volunteer librarian. I continued throughout the summer and I now have volunteered for more than a year.

I can remember one time when I felt that I had really helped someone. The library had asked junior high and high school kids volunteer to come in and read to little children on a Saturday morning. Even though it had snowed the day before, I still managed to make it to the library. I had only two children to read to. I think their parents were probably happy to get 20 minutes of peace. I was extremely happy to be able to read to the children.

In the future, I hope to get a job at the library. I was offered a paying job this past summer, but I was not old enough.

On the whole, volunteering has made me a better person. I now know that volunteer work is for everybody. I am living proof of that. fl