By Emi Kojima
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Troops of book lovers are arming themselves with information to
help guests at this year’s Los Angeles Times Festival of
Books who may find themselves as lost as freshman on their first
day of class.
This year, 1,080 volunteers will roam the campus at the Festival
of Books. Easily identifiable in green shirts, they are eager to
answer questions and help out, said Larry Deckel, the event’s
volunteer coordinator.
“The reason we’re there is to be hosts,” he
said. “We need to provide hospitality to make the festival as
enjoyable as possible.”
Deckel said most volunteers are people who come on their own
initiative ““ husbands and wives, small groups of friends,
people who read about the event. But what they all have in common
is a love of the written word.
“This event attracts mostly people who love books,”
he said. “On the (volunteer) application form there’s a
special talents section and a number of people write “˜I love
books and want to be a part of the event.'”
One of these volunteers is Barbara Constine, who graduated from
UCLA about 30 years ago but makes a point to return and help at the
Festival of Books because, as she said, “It’s a
pleasure.”
Though Constine volunteers at her local library, she always
looks forward to the festival, which she calls one of her most
rewarding volunteer experiences. She plans on working both
days.
Many volunteers work multiple shifts and full days and 18 are
working the whole event. Many volunteers return every year.
“The event keeps growing and the number of volunteers we
need also keeps growing,” Deckel said.
Though volunteers certainly help cut costs, Deckel emphasized
that they do not replace hired workers but are part of the
event.
All volunteers receive a free T-shirt and lunch. Many also
escort authors and get to listen to the speaker panels they help
coordinate, forgoing long lines for tickets.
“They have a good time,” Deckel said. “They
volunteer because they respect the event. They set the tone.
They’re doing something with their time and making L.A. a
better place.”
The festival is extremely well organized, allowing coordinators
to take advantage of so much manpower. Most volunteers, who must be
18 or over, pre-register for the event and attend a training
session. Volunteer captains, or “bookworms,” work an
entire day and supervise other volunteers.
Ray Hom, an obstetrician and clinical instructor at UCLA, is a
captain. He has volunteered at the Festival in each of its six
years.
“Most people don’t know I’m a physician when
I’m helping out,” he said. “It surprises people
when they ask what I do; they assume physicians don’t have
free time. I enjoy doing something I’m not expected to
do.”
Last year, Hom escorted Helen Zia, author of “Asian
American Dreams,” around campus. When she got lost, he helped
her find her way to the book signing area.
“You get to meet authors,” he said. “You learn
why authors write the books and it makes the experience of reading
much more interesting.”
UCLA students and alumni make up only 12 percent of all
pre-registered volunteers.
Maria Kivel, 70, is one of them. Kivel is a 1952 alumna who said
she feels like she’s made a difference volunteering by
“being friendly and making (guests) feel welcome.”
Sometimes, she said, she’ll even recommend a speaker or two
whom she liked at prior festivals.
Robert Sterner, a second-year English graduate student, is
volunteering this year for the first time.
“(It’s) a great opportunity to make the thing we do
on an everyday basis ““ reading books ““ into an
important public venture,” he said.
“Because society has become so Internet-centric or
TV-centric, we need to remember the tactile pleasures of books and
how we connect with a community of readers,” he
continued.
While Deckel coordinates volunteers for the Los Angeles Times,
others volunteer through student groups and promote events on
campus.
About 20 students from the English department’s Marathon
Reading will pass out flyers, raffle goods and run a booth to
spread the word about their annual fundraiser for the English
department, said Linda Greenberg, the program’s co-chair and
a first-year English graduate student.
“It’s about promoting awareness of the Marathon
Reading,” she said.
The Marathon Reading is an event where celebrity guests,
professors and students continuously read famous books in one
setting. This year, they’ll read “Jane Eyre” and
“Wide Sargasso Sea” May 17 and 18 from noon to
noon.
“We want to let people know about the reading,”
Sterner said, speaking on behalf of the English Graduate Union, of
which he is vice president. “But ““ and I think this
underlies everything we do ““ we want to celebrate
books!”