Every LIS Student Should Have Such a Mentor
I mourn the passing of the age in which one learned a trade as an apprentice. Internships and externships are great, but they're short, and seen really as supplemental to coursework.
I'm told that in some parts of the world, people still learn some professional trades primarily through internships and apprenticeships, but the american system of professional preparation is almost entirely academic.
But letters-after-one's-name aside, every LIS student should have a mentor like mine. (Good thing she doesn't have time to read my blog, or she might think I was kissing up).
My boss, Wendy, is the director of not only Knowledge Services at the hospital where I am employed, but also of Quality Improvement. It is unusual for a librarian to run a hospital Quality Improvement department, but so much of the job is about information management, and I see her applying librarianship skills to the job. Anyway.
Today she told me that she had a couple of literature searches she wanted me to do for her. She said this casually, but it really hit me. Here she is, a former professor of medical librarianship at Syracuse University (currently ranked the #2 library school in the country), and a medical librarian of significant experience and reputation, and she trusts me to do the literature searches she needs FOR her because she is pressed for time. For Pete's sake- she used to make a living teaching people how to do biomedical literature searches.
The fact that she asked me to do these strikes me not only as a heartening vote of confidence, but as another example of her habitual mentoring. She constantly asks those who report to her to expand their skills and responsibilities, and cultivates an environment where it is not only okay, but encouraged to try new things.
I know that across town are two other hospital medical libraries run by people Wendy previously mentored. One didn't train as a medical librarian and was convinced by my boss that library skills are portable, and that medical librarianship just required her to learn a new vocabulary. She now runs her hospital's library and has shown me the same generosity of time and spirit that I see in Wendy (I interviewed her for an LIS class- she couldn't have been any more accommodating and kind).
Every aspiring library professional should have a mentor like mine. Everyone should be so fortunate. I remind myself that not everyone is so fortunate, and not to take this for granted. I am very, very lucky to have ended up in my boss' library.
Anyone care to share a story of mentoring in a library setting?
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July 12th, 2006 at 9:10 pm
I hope that you get some good mentoring stories. I agree that the whole concept of mentoring isn’t often stressed in professional development – and the formal process has almost become a lost art. As a current LIS student, I think that this is a wonderful way to learn about librarianship – despite the fact that I do not currently have a relationship with a mentor. I did have a boss when I started working in library systems who in retrospect was a wonderful mentor – who helped me find my place in library systems. Despite only working together for a year, I credit her with helping me develop the necessary skills and knowledge to be successful working as the head of library systems at my current place of employment.