"The Library is Open!": Sharing Acts of Service with the Intention of Spreading Joy and Inspiration

Shifting Perspective

I remember feeling hopeless as a teenager because it seemed that no matter what I did, I was acting for my own self-interest. Even if I helped someone, I convinced myself that I was deep down doing it because it would make me feel good. But in college, I participated in a Dartmouth Center for Social Impact program where, for orientation, I learned that while the Center ran a variety of programs that uses Dartmouth's resources to serve the larger community, its core goal was to educate students, like me, to lead with “conscience and heart.” Giving students the skills to effectively serve communities exponentially magnifies the positive impact the Center has. Additionally, a podcast on Sikh wisdom encouraged me to look at my predicament in a new way. Professor and author Simran Jeet Singh explains the Sikh concept of Seva, a practice that reminds you that it is possible to act with the well-being of others in mind while finding personal enjoyment. The host, Chris Duffy, mirrors my concerns and asks,"The intentions matter, right? Is it okay if we are helping people, not 'cause we're truly selfless, but because we're supposed to, or because it makes us feel like a good person to do?" Singh replies that this concern stems from a Western understanding of service in which one is obligated to service if they have privilege, therefore defining service as something that only benefits the person on the receiving end of that service. "If we are to understand service as a spiritual practice," he says, you must recognize that "it can have a transformative impact on you as a person." Moreover, with intentions aligned with the good of the community, service transforms everyone involved. And this internal spiritual satisfaction will lead to joy, satisfaction, and purpose.

Inspiration at the Library

I am bringing all of this up because of my own transformative altruistic experience. Back in May, I got the opportunity to volunteer at the local library in my town of less than two-hundred full-time residents. Despite the lack of economic activity in the area, there sits our little library, in the same building as the volunteer fire department and town hall. Throughout high school and college I prioritized volunteering because helping people made me feel good, even if other aspects of my life didn't. It was always something I could turn to to remind me of the goodness in the world. Additionally, it’s been difficult meeting people in such a rural area, and I figured getting involved in the community is a great place to start.

For the first couple months, I didn’t have a single person come in to rent out a book during my weekly two-hour shift. I thought, maybe it’s because my shift is in the evening; my town has quite a substantial elder population who doesn’t need to worry about going to work and would rather come to the library in the morning. It was getting to the point that I was wondering if volunteering was even worth my time, but I kept reminding myself that it means something that I show up, that people know that this community space is available, even if they don’t come. 

I held on to hope; at the very least, I could use this two hours as an opportunity to relax and read a book. Last week I was doing just that, and I was actually dozing off when I heard a little girl outside yell “Oh my gosh, the library is open!” I jumped to my feet and prepared myself just in time for two young sisters to burst through the door. They told me their names, how old they were, and that they are also new to our town, having moved here last winter. One of them showed me some stitches on her face and told me that just two days ago her neighbor’s pit bull had bit her in the face. This was very upsetting to me and obviously to her and her family, and I was just glad that I could be there for her and provide her with a safe and nurturing community space.

I can’t speak from experience, but I imagine that growing up in such a rural area cannot be easy. Knowing that these girls moved to this small town so recently and haven't exactly experienced the warmest welcome, I wanted to do everything I could to help them succeed. One of my favorite college professors spent an entire lecture period detailing his journey from a disadvantaged childhood in southern rural Louisiana to becoming a law professor at an Ivy League Institution. He explained that he wasn't able to succeed where his peers didn't because of some aspect of his character, but because he had an adult believe in him and give him opportunities to grow and gain confidence. More than anything, I want to be that person for the children in this town. I want to help them discover what they are capable of through loving support.

These two girls and I spent the rest of my shift reading books. The younger one was on the cusp of being able to easily form syllables into comprehensible words, and I knew that if she had some one-on-one help and a quiet space to focus, she would do so well. She even told me "I wish I had someone that would take the time to read with me" and I assured her that when she comes back to the library, I will be that person for her. I remember hearing once that sometimes you don't necessarily need therapy, you just need literature that strikes a chord in you. Books have done so much for me, and literacy takes you so far in our modern world. Literacy is power.

Before they left, the girls drew me pictures which I hung up at work the next day. This experience did indeed transform me, and the possibility of positively influencing young lives gave me a level of purpose and contentment in my life that I did not have before. For a couple days I could not stop smiling, and I can't wait until they come back.

Finding What is Authentic to Myself

While it warms my heart to recount this story, I do feel a little weird about sharing volunteering experiences because it makes me question my intention: am I volunteering for a shared transformative experience between me and those I help, or am I volunteering to be seen as a person who volunteers? I was thinking about this earlier today, but I was hit by a contrary thought: the act of not sharing my volunteering experiences could also be fueled by my ego, my fear for being seen as an inauthentic person, a show-off, by those who don't take the time to understand me. My ego tells me that I will either be perceived as someone who volunteers as a way to prove that I'm a "good person" to others, or as someone who is saintly because I don't need the world to know about the good that I do. I counteracted this thought-spiral by zooming out and offering a utilitarian view: What good comes out of me sharing my volunteering experiences? In what ways can talking about volunteering benefit my community? Primarily, I seek to normalize acts of service especially among young people and show them possible opportunities for themselves. I also think about all of the negative content on the internet, and I believe that if I act from my heart with the interests of the community in mind, I have the opportunity to share the positive transformative effect of service with others.

When I zoom out, when I step away from my ego-centric and pessimistic view of myself, I believe that I can share about my experiences with volunteering and still be altruistic when I keep the good of the community at my center. It is not the first time that I have been in a situation where the spiritual outcome is dependent on my intentions, and it prompts me to look inwards. How well do we know our true intentions? How well do we understand our own minds? In this way, taking the time to understand and nurture ourselves helps us better serve our world.