Learning Ally is a fabulous and easy way to volunteer your time to help people in need. Learning Ally, formerly Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic, creates digital voice recordings of textbooks for students who are unable to read due to either vision or cognitive difficulties. Volunteers complete a 90 minute training, then return to record a test demo to ensure the procedures are well-understood. After that, volunteers can select 2 hour shifts to come read in a recording booth at their convenience, M-F from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. (Fridays 5:30 p.m.). You need no special skills to volunteer, just an ability to read textbooks smoothly and operate a simple computer system. However, if you do have training in advanced science or mathematics, Learning Ally is always interested in training specialist readers who can pronounce terminology and correctly describe graphs, tables, and figures in these texts. I really like the flexibility of volunteering with Learning Ally. And let's be honest, it's a fairly emotionally easy volunteer position too (this coming from a girl who couldn't handle the heartbreak of the animal shelter). But at the same time, it's easy to imagine the people who are being helped by your efforts. I've read textbooks for people from grade schoolers and college students, and felt good that someone is advancing their education with my help. If you're interested in becoming a volunteer, call Learning Ally and leave a message (the phone is unmanned) with your callback number. They'll return your call and get you started. Happy reading! read more