***Virtual hour options will end May 31, 2026
The library does not provide service hours for court mandated issues.
To earn virtual service hours, you must follow ALL listed directions. Hours are given out at the discretion of the library staff. If we deem your work to be insufficient or inappropriate, library staff can reject submissions. We do not provide Service Hours forms. They must come from your school or organization. All Service Hour forms can be brought in to the Teen Desk for signature confirmation after Service Hours have been approved via email. We will try to confirm service hours within 1 week via email, but cannot guarantee the time frame. Anyone in grades 6-12 can participate in our virtual service hour opportunities. Teens must be present in order for their service hour paperwork to be signed.
- Select a project from the list below.
- Follow all the directions for each project.
- Submit emails with your finished work no later than May 31, 2026.
- After December 31, keep an eye out for updated service opportunities!
- Each individual Virtual Service Hour opportunity has it’s own limit to how many hours you can earn from it. You can do multiple opportunities. (Example: you can do 3 Your Picks, 5 Letters to Elders, and 3 Video Edition to gain 11 hours of service.)
Section 1: Recommending To Others
Your Picks: Teen Video Edition (Limit 3 Submissions/3 Service Hours)
Do you like to recommend things to friends? Do you like making videos? If the answer is yes, then we’ve got a service hour opportunity for you.
- Create a 1 to 5 minute video where you do a review of your favorite teen books. (Books read for class will not be accepted for service hours.) All reviews must be about YA items from the Library’s collection, meaning it must be Teen/YA and the Orland Park Public Library MUST own it in our YA (Young Adult) collection. If you are unsure if it counts, ask one of the librarians and we’ll be happy to check for you.
- Your goal is to try to persuade people to check out the item you’re reviewing. Tell them a little bit about the story (no spoilers) and why it’s so amazing. Use your own words. Do not read the summary off the back of the item or one you picked up online.
- For every approved video you do, you’ll receive one service hour from the library. (Limit 3)
- All videos must be library appropriate.
- When recording be sure you use standard definition (don’t send videos over 200,000KB). Submitted videos may be posted on the library’s website and social media at staff’s discretion, so by sending them to us you are giving us permission to use your material and likeness.
- Submit your videos by sending us a way to download the video file by either creating a free Dropbox account or by using a Google Cloud link. Send us those links by emailing efaxel@orlandparklibrary.org.
- Be sure you do not have any copyrighted material in your videos. (This includes but isn’t limited to: music, video clips, photos, etc. )
- You can do more than one video (up to 3), but each review submitted must cover a different item.
- Be sure that you include your full name (first and last), grade, and which service hour program you are submitting work for (in this case Your Picks) in every email you send us. (It’s like making sure your name is on your paper for school before turning it in.) If you do not have your name on your work, you will not receive credit for it. Do not add this information to the subject line of the email. Please add it to the actual body of the email.
- After a video has been submitted and approved via email, we will be able to sign your service hours form. (The Teen must be present with their form in order for it to be signed.)
- Check out these video reviews from Teens like you!
Section 2: Helping Out Across The World
- Select an organization from the “volunteer activities,” listed below.
- Follow the requirements on our website and the organizations’ websites to complete volunteer work. (Find all the websites links for each organization below.)
- Choose one organization (project) or a few to receive volunteer hours.
- For each activity that you complete, take a clear photo of your finished volunteer project (example: letter, transcription etc.), upload it to an email and send it to efaxel@orlandparklibrary.org. No selfies required.
- Copying your work text from the organizations’ websites and pasting it into an email is also acceptable. We just need to see your fully completed work, or no credit can be given.
- Be sure that your full name (first and last) is in the email that you send us. No name equals no service hour credit.
- Submit emails no later than December 31, 2025.
- After December 31, keep an eye out for updated service opportunities!
The Organizations:
- Love for Our Elders (Limit 5 Submissions/5 Service Hours)
- Make someone’s day a little brighter! Hand-write letters to residents in senior facilities.
- Check out https://loveforourelders.org/letters and follow the instructions on their page to write and send a letter. (Note that they request that you write to one of their elders, not just an anonymous letter. That means every letter should start with a “Dear” and then the name of the person that you are writing to. (Dear Tom, Dear Dorthy,…..) They also request that the letter be decorated and on nice paper. You will not receive credit for just turning in words written on notebook paper. Make sure that the body of your letter (your main paragraph) is at least 7 sentences long. Your opening “Dear” and closing “Your Friend” do not count as one of your 7 sentences.) Please be sure to use punctuation in your letters.
- Send a clear photo of your letter to efaxel@orlandparklibrary.org.
- Be sure that we can see your full letter or we will not be able to give you credit. Since these are all handmade, a photo is required for this project. If you are having trouble sending a photo, contact efaxel@orlandparklibrary.org.
- For each approved letter that you send to us, you’ll earn 1 hour of service time. (up to 5)
- After a finished project has been submitted and approved via email, we will be able to sign your service hours form. (The Teen must be present with their form in order for it to be signed.)
- You can do more than one letter (up to 5).
- Be sure that you include your full name (first and last), grade, and which service hour program you are submitting work for (in this case Love for Our Elders) in every email you send us. (It’s like making sure your name is on your paper for school before turning it in.) If you do not have your name on your work, you will not receive credit for it. Do not add this information to the subject line of the email. Please add it to the actual body of the email.
- Please be sure to send the organization your finished letters by following their guidelines on their website.
- By the People (Limit 5 Submissions/5 Service Hours)
- Help the Library of Congress make documents searchable in their catalog. You will assist in transcribing original items. Anyone can transcribe and an account is not needed.
- Check out https://crowd.loc.gov/help-center/welcome-guide and follow the instructions on their page to transcribe a document. Be sure that you are choosing longer documents to transcribe (at least two thirds of a page long/150 words long). Sending us something that is only a sentence or two long is not going to earn you any Service hour time.
- Send a clear photo of your work and the original document that you transcribed to efaxel@orlandparklibrary.org. Be sure that we can see everything that you worked on. If you need to copy and paste your transcription into the email, that is ok. If you need to send us multiple photos that’s ok. We just need to be sure that you completed the full transcription or we cannot give you credit for your work.
- For each transcription that you send to us, you’ll earn 1 hour of service time. (up to 5)
- After a finished project has been submitted and approved via email, we will be able to sign your service hours form. (The Teen must be present with their form in order for it to be signed.)
- You can do more than one transcription. (up to 5)
- Be sure that you include your full name (first and last), grade, and which service hour program you are submitting work for (in this case By The People) in every email you send us. (It’s like making sure your name is on your paper for school before turning it in.) If you do not have your name on your work, you will not receive credit for it. Do not add this information to the subject line of the email. Please add it to the actual body of the email.