Leo Lott

Leo Lott began his volunteer service at the Missoula Public Library twenty-two years ago. In 1984, his wife recruited him to assist with the donated gift books and the annual used book sale. He has been a valued volunteer and contributor to the library since that time.

When Leo starting working with the library, the donation system was not organized. Donated books were dumped into boxes and remained in that state. Leo developed a system and began to organize. He sorted the books into categories that paralleled the library’s collections. Leo then organized the categories and priced the books. He worked almost daily and has been keeping this routine for the past 13 years. Leo handles more than 10,000 books per year and coordinates a team of volunteers to assist him throughout the year and during the book sale week.

Leo comes to the library almost every day to check the donations. He enjoys seeing all the gifted books and knowing he can provide them for someone else. Leo is proud of his two of his most recent ideas that have contributed further to the sale of these books. Prior to Christmas last year, Leo put new books on a sale shelf for people to purchase as Christmas gifts. He has also been instrumental in getting permanent sale bookshelves upstairs in the in the library. Due to Leo’s efforts, the sale of these books generates a little over $1,000 per month for the Friends of the Library Organization.

Prior to moving to Montana, Leo taught for twelve years at Ohio State University. He retired in 1980 from the University of Montana where he was a Professor and Chairman in the Political Science Department. Leo believes volunteering keeps him healthy and in touch with what is happening around him.

Leo has an outstanding record of service with the Missoula Public Library. As a result of his dedication, he has been honored as the Volunteer of the Year in 1989. He also contributed more than 500 hours of service during a 12-month time period. Leo’s service is valuable to the organization and will have long-term effects for years to come.