• European Volunteer Service
  • 2009-ES-66 - Grainart
  • 2009-ES-67- Library
  • 2009-ES-67 - YIP
  • 2010-ES-94 - obre't'ebre
  • Experiences of EVS
• Youth Exchanges
• Youth Iniciatives

687474703A2F2F7777772E6573746164697374696361736772 617469732E636F6D2F65737461646973746963617320677261746973

Estadisticas Gratis

EVS project - Biblioteca Marcel·lí Domingo
Youth in the library - 2009-ES-67

Actualized on 23/09/11.

Project themes: art and culture, social inclusion
Target groups: youth and children, local comunity
Project activities resum: organize educative activities for children and help in the maintenance of the library
No vacancy until 2012. Selection date not defined yet
Project duration: one year
Number of volunteers hosted: 1
Project email to send candidature: EVSBiblioMD@gmail.com
Hosting organization: IMACT - Biblioteca Marcel·li Domingo (Tortosa-Spain): http://www.biblioteca.tortosa.cat
Coordinating organization: obre't'ebre (HEI 2010-ES-94): www.obretebre.org

GENERAL SELECTION CRITERIA OF THE VOLUNTEER

Volunteer profile:
The priorities of the library, regarding the profile of the volunteers are:

• An active person, dinamic, with assertive and empatic comunication habilities, opened to know and meet persons from diferent origins, opened to the diversity, motivated to learn and with own initiative. It is required motivation and interest in education, cultures, social work with children and youngsters from diferent origins.
• Interested in living in a rural area
• A basic knowledge of Spanish would be needed in order to integrate rapidly to the community.
• We will give preference to candidates who haven't had a previous experience abroad, but who have taken part in workshops or activities in centres for people in risk of social exclusion, and /or be active in the socio-art-cultural association world. We have no requirement regarding the age, gender or nationality of the volunteers. 

SUMMARY OF THE PROJECT

Region: Tortosa is the capital of "Terres de l'Ebre", in the South of Catalonia, North-East of Spain. This area has a rich historical and natural heritage and two Natural parks: Parque Natural del Delta del Ebro and the Parque Natural de los Puertos. Tortosa is a city of approximately 40.000 inhabitants, 25% of whom are immigrants. One of the main economic activity in the region is agriculture, together with the service and industry. Thus it is mainly a rural area where European Youth information is not readily available and the opportunity of taking part in this kind of projects is not very common.  

Please read the Volunteers guide in Tortosa, to know more about the hosting place.

Coordinating organisation: The coordinating organisation is obre’t’ebre, which was establish by three European volunteers after a Future Capital. At present the organisation counts on two workers, and 6 to 10 volunteers who helps obre't'ebre occasionally. obre´t´ebre is located in the Youth Information Point of Tortosa, in the sports centre of the city. Since its creation obre't'ebre has organised four international exchanges and six summer work camps, sent seven EVS volunteers, hosted eight EVS volunteers and is actually coordinating an EVS project with 3 volunteers until September 2011. We also supported and guided youth initiatives, ....

Hosting Organisation: The Public Library Marcel·li Domingo is a municipal service, which depends on the IMACT (Municipal Institute of Cultural Activities of Tortosa), an autonomous organisme which depends on the Tortosa City Council.

Actually, the library staff is composed of 6 permanent workers, one student and a security guard. A few volunteers offers their helps regularly to the library.
The public library has an important function as a public space and meeting space. This is important in communities where there are few spaces in which people can gather.
Its basic mission is to respond to the informational needs of the community and to promote a joy of reading so that citizens have the tools necessary for their personal, professional and intelectual development. In addition, it tries to foster intercultural dialogue and promote cultural diversity.
The new library, inaugurated in July 2006, has got a surface of 1647 m2. The three floors, connected by a lift, are distributed as following:

• Ground floor: Interest centre, Small Readers Space, Newspapers and magazines from around the world, Arabic documents section (Novels, magazines, instructional books, children's stories), Internet, auto service of photocopy/printing/scanner, Loan and Information Counter
• First floor: Adults, Novels, Poetry, Theatre, General Publications, and Local collection, Internet, Reading Room
• Second floor: Multimedia Games, Music, Cinema and Documentals, Internet, Reading Room

• Adult activities: conferences, talks and workshops, Reading Club and exhibitions, ...
• Children activities: short story hour, puppet shows, refreshing short stories in the square (in August), Competitions (bookmarks, Cards to the Three Wise Men, Best Young Reader, …), intercultural and social integration workshops, ...
• Other activities: Books presentations, Loan of the polyvalent room, trainings courses, libraryswimmingpool, night study room, participation to the literary fair, ...

• the Loan Project and the Home Reading Project, with the collaboration of the volunteers, in order to give response to the needs of the users with visual and mobility problems
• the Reading Club, the Short Story Reading in English or French
• activities in collaboration with the Education department, the Cultural Diversity department of the city council and the Atzavara-Arrels organization

• Winter hours (October-Juny): Mornings: Tuesday and Thursday from 10 am to 1:30 pm; Saturday from 10:30 am to 1:30pm- Afternoons: Monday to Friday from 4:30pm to 8:30pm
• Summer hours (July-September): Mornings: Tuesday to Friday from 9am to 3pm – Afternoons: Mondays from 3pm to 9pm. The LibrarySquare is opened from 6pm to 8:30 pm Monday to Friday in July and August
• There's also a night study room, opened from 8:30pm to 1am Monday to Friday, from 4:30pm to 8:30pm Saturday and Sunday and from 10:30am to 1:30pm on Sunday

Pocket and food money:
Pocket and food money will be paid in a bank account (opened to volunteers at arrival). The coordinating organisation is in charge of the payment of the flat rental and household expenses.

Language:
In Tortosa, the most used language is Catalan. It is difficult to find Spanish language classes of intermediate-high level, so we will suggest volunteers to take basic Spanish and Catalan classes and we will provide them contact with young people interested in doing language exchanges. There might be the possibility to participate to an intensive course of catalan in the beginning of the project. Then there will be between 1-4 hours/week of language classes, according to needs. Basic Spanish classes will be given by the organisation Atzavara-Arrels, Basic Catalan classes will be given by "Centre de Normalització Lingüistica.The volunteer can learn Spanish and Catalan through classes, language echanges and daily-life.
 

GENERAL TASKS OF THE VOLUNTEER

During the first 2 weeks, they will receive information and training about the host and the coordinating organisations and the reality of the area. They will receive information about the health system and all useful phone numbers (urgencies, police, fire brigade, information,...).
The volunteer will receive the necessary information to carry out his/her activities, as well as about the structure of the hosting organisation.
The library offers training in the following issues: documentation, information, search of information, digital resources, design and creation of interactive and educational material, local and international cultures and the contact with youth...
With the contact with the staff and users, volunteers can learn about the reality of immigrants, their cultures, the reality of people with disabilities, immigration laws in Spain and the daily-life of Spanish society.
They may participate in the awareness activities, workshops and talks carried out, where they may learn about education and may develop their personal and social skills.
Competences volunteers may develop during their EVS at the PIJ: -Communication in mother and foreign tongues, mathematical competence and basic science and technology competences, digital competences, learning to learn, social and civic competences, sense of initiative and entrepreneurship, cultural awareness expression.
The director of the library will be the volunteer's work supervisor, with whom he/she will meet regularly to evaluate and plan its work.
The tutor of the EVS volunteer is a volunteer of obre't'ebre, who followed a special training from our National Agency. They will have regular meetings with the aim of evaluating the project and its conditions and to solve any conflict.
The volunteer will assist to the on-arrival training and the mid-term evaluation of our National Agency, to monthly evaluations with the mentor and supervisor, and to intermediate and final evaluation with the coordinator.

Role of EVS volunteers in the host organisation:

Volunteers will attend youth through their support in actions, projects and programmes for youth about co-existence values, tolerance and solidarity.
Volunteers will support and help with the activities and projects carried out at the Library, but they may also develop their sense of initiative and entrepreneurship in a personal project, in agreement with the supervisor and coordinator.
They will support and help the team of volunteers, students and staff in charge of the daily running of the projects and the different workshops and projects, which supervisor will guide them and advice them with their tasks.
Volunteers will never be obliged to do any activity they don't want to do. They will never be set in risky situations during their activities.

Tasks: The main purpose of the volunteers participation will be to facilitate meetings of youngsters from diferent origins in order to foster the intercultural dialogue through his support in the actions orientated to the education in values of tolerance, coexistence and solidarity.
The volunteer will mainly help in the diferent projects and activities that are organized in the library, but also in the daily work of the library :

A. Small Readers Space (more or less 60% of working time): Support to the staff to lead and liven up the Small Readers Space; Help to organize, create and prepare educative and silent activities to foster reading or other important themes for children, like habits, hygiene, health, interculturality, ...; Help to orden and the space at the end of the activities

B. Projects and activities of the library (15%): Help in the gestion of the booking of the polyvalent room (answer emails, actualize calendar, ...); Help in the gestion and organization of the exhibitions (contacts by email and phone, actualize calendar of exhibitions, setting up and removal of exhibitions); Help in the preparation and realization of the Short Story Hour and Refreshing Short Stories in the square (selection of short stories, preparation of the material and decoration, reading of the short story); Help to organize the Competitions (organization, preparation and diffusion of the competitions); Assist to the talks, conferences and workshops organized

D. Help to organize and orden the shelfs and materials of the library (10%)

E. Participate to talks and activities of difusion of EVS and international volunteering organized by obre't'ebre (5%)

 

Example of a weekly timetable

SUMMER	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
9am – 10am		B	B	B	B
10am – 1pm		A	A	A	A
1pm – 2pm		C	D	C	D
2pm – 3pm		C	D	C	D
3pm – 5pm	A
5pm – 7pm	A
7pm – 9pm	B

• SERVICE TIME: about 30-35 hours per week, including technical and language and exchange
• SATURDAY AND SUNDAY: holiday. Exceptionally, the volunteer can be asked to work during a weekend. In these cases, he will get 2 free days during the past or the following week. Depending on the week there will be trips with young people or other volunteers to get to know the “Tierras del Ebro” region.
• HOLIDAYS: Local and national holidays, and 2 free days per months with previous concertation agreement with the supervisor. The volunteer can take part during his/her free time in any activities he/she is interested in: seminars, courses, local dances and music lessons, local activities...

*********************************************************************

WITH THE SUPORT FROM

European Commission

Spanish National Agency of the Youth In Action program

IN COLLABORATION WITH