Southold Historical Museum is launching a new effort to expand the volunteer corps that helps keep one of the North Fork’s busiest cultural institutions running — from caring for tens of thousands of artifacts and maintaining historic buildings to staffing dozens of events each year.

Leading the effort is Maya Bliss, the museum’s new education and programming liaison, who joined the organization several months ago. Executive director Darren St. George said a central part of Bliss’ job will be supporting existing volunteers, reconnecting with former ones and introducing new people to the museum.

For an organization with a staff of just six, St. George said, volunteers are not supplemental help. They are fundamental to how the museum operates.

“We have over 30 events a year. We steward over 64,000 items in the collection, and it is all possible because of the volunteers,” St. George said. The museum also maintains 19 historic structures across three locations.

Bliss, who recently moved to the area from Boulder, Colorado, has a background in nonprofit work and social enterprises and said she was immediately struck by the level of community involvement in Southold.

“Something that’s really special about Southold is just how tight knit the community is, and everyone is looking to get involved,” Bliss said. “Volunteers are so important. Volunteers are so crucial. It’s really an ecosystem, and we wouldn’t be able to do it without all of the people that you just met today.”

Her goal, she said, is to make volunteering rewarding for the people who participate.

“We want to strengthen and revitalize this ecosystem, and we also want people to find joy and companionship and community with the museum — just as much as the museum needs the community to support them.”

St. George, who has worked at museums across Long Island, said Southold Historical Museum stands apart because of the breadth of its operations and the extent to which volunteers make them possible.

“We have a strong but mighty staff. We’re a staff of six,” he said. “None of this is possible without their dedication and the sharing of their talents.”

Much of the museum’s volunteer recruitment has traditionally happened through word of mouth. Volunteers tend to gravitate toward areas that match their interests, St. George said, whether that be quilting, gardening, history, working with visitors or just becoming more involved in the community. Those groups often develop into communities of their own.

“Each one turns into their own family,” St. George said.

The new recruitment effort is intended in part to reach people who may have thought about volunteering but assumed it required more time or expertise than they could offer. St. George said the museum wants people to know there is a low barrier to getting involved, and no fixed weekly commitment.

“You can volunteer for two hours a month, or you could be volunteering for six hours a week,” he said. “Whatever your comfort level is, you’re welcome to it. We’re not going anywhere, so when you have time for us, we’re here for you.”

The museum is particularly interested right now in finding volunteers for Horton Point Lighthouse, where there are several different roles, but St. George stressed that help is welcome throughout the organization.

Some volunteers have been involved with the museum for decades, St. George said, with that commitment becoming a family tradition.

“There are some people who have been here for decades, and there are also families who have been supporting the museum for decades,” he said, describing families whose involvement has stretched from great-grandparents and grandparents to children and great-grandchildren today.

That history is what Bliss hopes to build upon, while opening the museum to residents who may never before have considered volunteering. Whatever their interests — history, gardening, meeting people or just connecting with the community — St. George said there is likely a role for them.

“Whatever it may be,” he said, “we have a place for you.”