If you’re looking to build your career and gain experience in libraries, information and archives in the North East, the following local organisations offer volunteering, work experience and placement opportunities worth exploring.
Beamish, the Living Museum of the North
- A world-famous open-air museum in County Durham, bringing the North East to life through recreated Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian settings, with its own archive and Regional Resource Centre.
- General volunteering opportunities, as well as college, university and long-term work placements, are available across different areas of the museum.
- A new cultural venue in Sunderland and home to the City Library, opening in 2026. Culture House combines library services with heritage collections as well as digital and creative spaces. The wider Culture House network also includes a hub at Washington with a local studies centre and local history resources.
- Culture House recruits volunteers across a range of roles like Library Assistant, Archivist and Book Club Facilitator.
- Durham University's Library and Collections includes its libraries, museums and archives, such as the Palace Green Library, Bill Bryson Library and Museum of Archaeology.
- A range of volunteering opportunities are offered with the Archives and Special Collections team, who look after significant rare book and manuscript collections.
- Volunteering and work experience placements are also available for post-16 and university students.
North East Museums (formerly Tyne and Wear Archives)
- A network of twelve museums, galleries and archives across the North East, including the Great North Museum: Hancock Library and Archives, and Tyne and Wear Archives at the Discovery Museum.
- The Hancock Library is a specialist library covering natural history, archaeology and local history. Tyne and Wear archives is the regional record office for Tyne and Wear, holding documents from the 12th century to the present day.
- Volunteering across all venues is managed centrally and applications can be made online. The website states that new opportunities are added regularly.
- Northumberland Archives has two sites: the main archive within the Woodhorn Museum in Ashington, and the Berwick Record Office in Berwick-upon-Tweed. The Berwick Office covers North Northumberland and holds borough records, manorial documents, photographs and parish records dating back to the 12th century.
- Both sites welcome volunteers and have a well-established programme involving transcription, cataloguing, indexing and digitisation. Training is provided.
- A unique, volunteer-run community library currently based in Gateshead that hosts regular language classes and houses over 22,000 books in more than 140 languages and dialects.
- People can volunteer to help run the library and support fellow volunteers with learning English.
- An independent library located in central Newcastle, offering over 200,000 books, 10,000 LPs/CDs, and regular public talks and workshops.
- People can volunteer for a range of activities, either one-off or regularly. Note that some activities - including the popular bookbinding group - are open to Lit & Phil members only, but others are open to all.
- The Story is the new home of the Durham County Record Office, bringing together five collections including County Durham Archives, plus local studies, archaeology and the Durham Light Infantry collection.
- The Story runs a volunteering programme covering collections work, visitor welcome and community heritage projects, with both in-person and remote options. While recruitment is currently paused as the volunteer team is at capacity, you can check the website for updates or sign up to their mailing list to be informed of new opportunities.
Opportunities can change frequently, so it’s always worth
checking directly with an organisation in case details have changed since this list was compiled. However, this is hopefully a good starting point if you're looking to develop your skills and experience in the sector.
- Amy Austin, Students and New Professionals Rep
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