Welcome to Pagebound’s Volunteer Librarian Application! 👋

Thanks so much for your interest in applying to volunteer with us! To be eligible to become a Pagebound Librarian, you need to have been a user for at least 3 months and reached Level 4. Please take the time to read this document thoroughly, and submit your application when you’re ready.

Librarian Program Overview

Pagebound launched in 2025, so we are still a relatively new platform. The Librarian Program is new as of June 2026. As the program matures and the number of Librarians increases, processes will likely change. Thank you for joining us now in the early days and your willingness to adapt with us as we grow!

Librarians maintain the quality and integrity of our book database. We aim for a comprehensive and accurate book database for book tracking and discussion. What does this mean, practically?

1. You should be able to transfer previous reading history easily to Pagebound. If you’re a Goodreads or Storygraph user, we allow you to import a CSV and transfer the data provided accurately.
2. You should be able to track any book that you’re reading on Pagebound. If it’s not in our book database already, it’s easy to add. Some caveats:
   1. We do not support formats that are not books (e.g., webtoons, fanfiction, singular short stories or essays, etc.)
   2. We believe in user-entered data over imperfect edition data. We do not need every edition in the world since you can enter the format and page count for your book yourself.
3. We are not trying to be the source of truth for all the books in the world. This means if no one is reading that book or edition on Pagebound, it does not need to be in our book database.

As a self-funded, small team, we operate under constraints. Storing millions of book records is expensive, and finding perfect, resource unconstrained solutions is rare. Our overall goal with our book database is to enable our unique product features to shine and serve the Pagebound community as a whole. We make tradeoffs as needed and prioritize the community over individual preferences.

Setting Expectations

Librarians are crucial to Pagebound’s ability to serve readers. When you become a Librarian, you get access to a Librarian Dashboard within Pagebound. This will include tools to review user-added books, update book data, dedupe books, and more. The work is self-guided and on your own time. There is no expectation for a certain number of hours a week, and you do not lose your Librarian status for becoming inactive. You can do as much or as little as you like, and we’re grateful to everyone who helps us improve Pagebound in any way!

Since the Librarian Program is new, and we expect to learn and make changes along the way, we are requiring that all volunteer Librarians join a Discord for ease of communication and to provide a place where Librarians can ask questions and support one another. To become a Librarian, you must also be comfortable creating/using a Discord account. This may change as the program matures.

What is Discord?

Discord is a free, group chat tool with built-in functionality for protecting privacy and creating organized channels to share information and collaborate. Since many Pagebound users are familiar with Discord and already have accounts, we’ve opted to use this for the Librarian Program. If you’re accepted as a Librarian, you’ll receive instructions on how to join the private Discord server. We’ll ask you to use your Pagebound username as your name within this server.

Qualities we’re looking for in volunteer Librarians

• You should already be very familiar with the features of Pagebound. This is why we have this eligibility requirement: you’ve been a user for at least 3 months and reached Level 4.
• You should be able to understand detailed written instructions in English.
• You should be extremely detail oriented. We place a lot of trust in Librarians because they have the power to directly change our book database. While making the occasional mistake is human, we expect diligence from our Librarians—mistakes shouldn’t come from carelessness.
• You should be a self-starter and comfortable seeking clarity when confused. Since Librarian work is self-guided, we are looking for intrinsically motivated volunteers who are eager to learn new processes on their own. We welcome questions, and the Discord is available any time to seek support from others and Lead Librarians (those with the most experience). We are looking for people who will ask for help rather than proceed when unsure.
• You should be comfortable following Pagebound’s guidelines on Librarian tasks and not allow personal opinions to supersede or affect your execution of those tasks. We operate on the principle of disagree and commit. If you disagree with something, you’re welcome to raise the concern in the Discord for discussion. Once a decision has been made, we expect you to uphold and abide by the decision even if you still personally disagree.

Context on Pagebound’s Library