Presentation Outline

Pronunciation: Brit. /ˈmɛntɔː/ , U.S. /ˈmɛnˌtɔ(ə)r/ , /ˈmɛn(t)ər/

a. Originally (in form Mentor): a person who acts as guide and adviser to another person, esp. one who is younger and less experienced. Later, more generally: a person who offers support and guidance to another; an experienced and trusted counsellor or friend; a patron, a sponsor.

Oxford English Dictionary

"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn."

― Benjamin Franklin

"I am not a teacher, but an awakener."

― Robert Frost

"Be the change you want to see in the world." ― Gandhi

"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give." ― Winston Churchill

The Greater New York Metropolitan Area Chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL). Established: June 1980. http://www.acrlny.org

Mission:ACRL/NY is dedicated to improving library services, encouraging the exchange of ideas and information, providing networking opportunities for librarians and seeking greater cooperation among academic and research libraries. ACRL/NY promotes professional standards, mentors librarians, and enhances professional development through a variety of educational programs. The Chapter encourages local participation in national issues relating to academic and research libraries.

It was in our mission, we talked about doing it for years, we knew that it was needed in our area, we knew this type of cross-institutional program did not exist in our area, we assisted library school students in others ways (scholarships to annual symposium, discounted membership, etc.), we wanted to give back to our community, we wanted to reach out to those who wanted or needed help in finding jobs, getting tenure, getting published, moving into management, changing roles, etc., we are a city of exceptional librarians -- many who are more than willing to give back, to be mentors...

Fall 2010: Formed an ad-hoc mentoring committee from members of the executive board, and wrote a charge to committee.

Spring/Summer 2011: Researched what others had done, developed application forms and guidelines/criteria/mission.

Fall 2011: Sent out requests for participation. Created web page on ACRL/NY site. Hosted a meeting for those who were interested in the program.

January 2012: Began 6 month pilot program.

The ACRL/NY Mentoring Program contributes to the professional development of academic librarians by pairing experienced academic librarians with recent LIS graduates and/or those new to the field. The program creates a formal and informal forum for the exchange of ideas between paired mentors and mentees, provides them with opportunities for a shared learning experience, and makes available the benefits of networking within the academic librarian community.

Want to be a Mentor?

Mentors are library professionals who offer significant experience (5+ years) or an exceptional knowledge base in related areas (e.g. research and writing for publication; web design; project management) to the field of library and information science. Most importantly, they are enthusiastic about the profession and eager to give back to it by offering their time and counsel as mentors. Mentors must be ACRL/NY members, and should be willing to participate in discussion groups (e.g., the New Members Discussion Group) and/or other ACRL/NY committees. A mentor is someone who:

• Encourages professional behavior;
• Listens to problems and offers advice and counsel;
• Assists the mentee in a specialized area, e.g. publishing an article, guidance in changing library career tracks, etc.
• Offers encouragement and inspires self-confidence and excellence;
• Assists with career development, exploration and advancement.

Want to be a Mentee?

A mentee is an LIS student, a new librarian, or someone with less than five (5) years of professional library experience. All ACRL/NY Mentees must agree to join and be an active member of the ACRL/NY New Librarians’ Discussion Group. A mentee is someone who:

• May need some initial help navigating professional library settings;
• Has no one outside the library organization with whom to confide in about problems and from whom to seek advice and counsel;
• Does not possess the experience in certain specialized areas, e.g. publishing an article, guidance in changing library career tracks, etc. and needs the help of another;
• Needs an outside professional eye to inspire self-confidence and excellence;
• Is not sure about how to develop in the profession, know how to explore other areas of academic librarianship or how to advance.

Pilot Program:

11 pairs

Mentees: 5 LIS students, 4 new librarians, 2 recent grads looking for work.

Mentors: 2 head librarians (directors); 3 heads of departments; a retired librarian; librarians w/expertise in reference & instruction, electronic resources, resource sharing/access services, management, the tenure process, business, humanities, social sciences, and more.

Coordinator role...

Email to participants:

Dear ACRL/NY Mentoring Program Participants,

Thank you for applying to this program! We are excited to begin and to match up all of you with your respective mentors/mentees. Before we do that, however, I want to let all know what is expected of you as a participant in the program. As coordinator, I will be communicating with you on a monthly basis. I will provide you with discussion prompts that you may choose to "discuss" or ignore. Since we are all in (or interested in) academic libraries, I expect there to be many discussions between mentors and mentees on what the daily life of an academic librarian is like... as well as other things like: finding and applying for jobs, interviewing, the tenure process, getting started with publishing or presenting, promotion and leadership opportunities, staying involved and connected, and much more. My monthly email to you, more than anything, will be a reminder to communicate with one another.

We expect that:

• Participants will email (or communicate with) one another at least twice a month
• Mentees should feel free to ask his/her mentor any professional question at any time (think of your mentor as a resource)
• Mentors should answer questions as soon as he/she can
• Participants should try to be involved in one or more of ACRL/NY's discussion groups
• Participants will contact the mentoring coordinator with any issues or problems with the mentor/mentee relationship or questions about the program in general
• Participants are current ACRL/NY members

• Listing the names and emails of current participants (mentees and mentors) on the site. This way we can contact others in the program if we want, and also see where others work, etc.
• Having a list of "resource people" and what they can help with, so anyone can contact them to ask about specific things (writing proposals, the tenure process, subject specialties, specific roles, leadership, etc.).
• Teaming up (more) w/ New Librarians Discussion Group to offer more programs and events on topics such as effective instruction, interviewing, cover letters and resumes, the tenure process, etc.
• Compiling a list of mentors, or resource people, who would be willing to have people attend one of their instruction sessions.
• Have more in-person meetings per year.
• Offering a scholarship opportunity for new librarians to attend the ACRL/NY Annual Symposium.

Professional Background:

• Pratt Institute
• MLIS and MS in History of Art and Design (awarded 2010)
• Lincoln Center Institute, Web Content Manager (2006–2011)
• Lehman College, CUNY, Instructional Technologies Librarian (2011–present)

Why I Wanted a Mentor:

• New to librarianship
• Transition from corporate non-profit to academia
• Never took classes in academic librarianship, library use instruction, research methods, statistics, etc., etc., etc.
• Only two tenured librarians at Lehman

Questions:

“People keep sending me articles and conference listings, but I can't read it all! If you have any tips, I'd love to hear them.”

“Another librarian here suggested that before tenure time rolls along I'll need to do some service in a national organization. Do you think this is true? If so, I suppose I should get active in a local chapter, then work up?”

“If you have any advice about time management—or maybe specifically about how I can reconcile myself to giving up my free time for research—I'd be really curious to hear [it].”

• New academics are overwhelmed
• Write us even if we don’t write back!
• Try chat, Skype, phone, etc.
• New academics are isolated
• Schedule at least one in-person event
• Make participants part of a network
• New academics don’t know what they don’t know
• Discussion prompts help raise important issues

Fall 2012: Began new (academic year) program.

New initiatives:

• Web presence / online toolbox, for the program and beyond
• Resource Librarians
• More programs geared for new librarians, library school students
• More outreach to library schools
• More promotion to expand the program

http://librarianmentoringproject.wordpress.com/

Resource Librarian:

Not everyone can devote time to being involved in a formal mentoring program, and not every mentor can answer every question his/her mentee has. So, to assist the mentees in our program, as well as new librarians and library school students who are interested in academic libraries, we are creating a bank of librarians who work in the greater New York metro area, and who will serve as Resource Librarians and be willing to answer questions and/or meet with a librarian who would like assistance in a particular area.

Please consider being a Resource Librarian! Fill out the application, linked on the Librarian Mentoring Project site.

Questions?Presentation URL: http://bit.ly/acrlnymentoring

Susanne Markgren, susanne.markgren@purchase.edu, @smarkgren

Jennifer Poggiali, jennifer.poggiali@lehman.cuny.edu, @jenpoggiali

http://www.acrlny.org