As a working library professional, you have a wide range of experiences to bring to a mentoring relationship. You can be a source of advice and information to someone who is interested in pursuing or furthering their library career. Being a mentor can provide you with the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life and to contribute to the library profession.
Be inspired
Recipients of 21st Century Librarian scholarships provided feedback on their experience with the mentoring program component. These comments could prove insightful for the aspiring mentor.
Sometimes all it takes to be a mentor is to be a good listener. You know you’ve done a good job when your mentee can say, “Just knowing I have someone to talk to and ask library or career related questions is reassuring to me. It is good to know there is someone interested in my education and in my job, and just having the mentor there for me if I need advice or a sounding board, is really nice.”
Mentoring a library science student can prove very beneficial to the mentee. One Bachelor’s student reported that her mentor “was willing and able to give me advice and information I needed in connection with classes I was taking at the time.”
Mentorship doesn’t have to just take place face-to-face. Another Bachelor-level student corresponded often with her mentor by email. The mentor “was a help in not only networking with others but I was still unsure of myself with schoolwork and she graciously proofread a few of my papers and offered feedback, which to a (then) timid student was very helpful!”
For one LTA student, the mentorship was “useful in other aspects as well as the classes. She was able to listen to my job complaints and give me logical advice.”
Another LTA’s mentor drove to her school and watched her work with the children, offering input to the process. The result? “I had an outstanding mentor.”
The Now Hiring at Your Library
® website offers more inspiration if you are considering becoming a mentor:
Resources
What Mentors Do: 6 Tips
Qualities of a Good Mentor: 15 Hints
Mentor Resource Center
Dial in
Have you been a mentor, formally or informally, or yourself been mentored? What were the most rewarding aspects of your experience? Please feel free to share your comments.
