TITLE OF POSITION: Museum Docent/Tour Guide

SUPERVISED BY: Clay R. Bauske, Museum Curator (exhibit training) Mark Adams, Educational Programs Coordinator (tour training, including schools) Donna Denslow, Coordinator of Volunteer and Intern Services (tour assignments)

PURPOSE OF JOB: To provide a welcome, hospitable environment and rewarding learning experience to museum visitors through guided tours.

DUTIES MAY INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

1. Conducting museum tours of approximately 1-1 1/2 hours in length. Be comfortable speaking to small and large groups of people of all ages.

2. May be called upon to conduct occasional tours of museum and facilities (behind the scenes) for VIP’s, special visiting groups, etc.

3. Greet and welcome tour groups upon their arrival at the Library.

4. Deal skillfully with a diversity of visitors under a variety of circumstances

5. Continually be aware and keep informed about changes in the exhibits.

6. Assist staff at the information desks by providing information to museum visitors and answering their questions about the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, particularly if your tour is late arriving.

7. On occasion, assist with an evening special event program.

8. Occasionally, tours fail to show and when that happens, docents might wander through the exhibition galleries to engage individual visitors and families in impromptu tours or conversations.

9. Be responsible to find a replacement docent if you cannot give a tour that has been assigned to you. A list of current docents and phone numbers is given to all docents. Tour schedules are completed, and docents are assigned tours, approximately four weeks in advance. Schedules are then mailed to docents. Docents are required to confirm that they can give the tour(s) they have been assigned.

COMMITMENT REQUIRED:

A minimum commitment of four tours a month for a year is required. Docents are needed for weekday and/or weekend tours. During the summer, in addition to booked tours, public tours are scheduled a month in advance, three every day Monday through Saturday, and two on Sunday. Outside of the summer months, the booked tours consist of school groups, adult groups, chartered tours, etc.

QUALIFICATIONS NEEDED:

• Must be age 21 or older
• High School degree
• Enjoy interacting and comfortable meeting with other people
• Personable, outgoing
• Reliable, responsible
• Extensive prior knowledge of the Truman Presidency is not required but a prospective docent should have a working knowledge of American history and a desire to learn.
• Capable of learning new material rapidly and willing to spend time and expend the effort necessary to study material on the Truman Administration and the Truman Library.
• Able to work independently
• Attend 6-8 week training program
• Able to accept supervision
• Ability to speak comfortably before groups of people
• Physically able to lead tours around the museum
• Enthusiastic, flexible
  

TRAINING/ORIENTATION PROVIDED:

Museum Docent training consists of the following:

• Following at least three tours by different tour guides
• Viewing several films, including the current Guggenheim Film being shown in the museum auditorium
• Reading material including biographies by McCullough and Hamby
• 4-5 sessions with the Museum Curator and/or the Educational Programs Coordinator concerning the exhibits, and tour and question techniques
• Give a sample tour to 4-6 museum visitors accompanied by staff
• Museum Docents receive additional training while assisting Visitor Services staff at the museum information counters. This on-the-job training enables docents to learn more about the day-to-day questions that visitors ask.
• Total time involved in training is approximately 6-8 weeks.
  

LOCATION OF JOB:

The Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum & Library, Independence, Missouri

VOLUNTEER BENEFITS:

Knowledge about Harry S. Truman, the Library and Museum, and the educational aspects offered to visitors through a variety of programs/exhibits; discount prices in the museum gift shop; invitations to special events; volunteer appreciation programs; free parking; free subscription to Whistle-Stop, the quarterly newsletter of the Harry S. Truman Library Institute; free admission to the museum for you and your immediate family.

• Return to Volunteer Information page