ACRL/NY Mentoring and New Librarian Discussion Group, June 2015

 

acrl

The New York chapter of the Association of College and Research Libraries has a mentoring and new librarians meeting twice a year. It is a great chance to meet other new librarians, more experienced librarians and network. People who are interested in becoming mentees or mentors can attend, as well as current mentees and mentors. I have been mentoring through this program for three years, and it has been in operation for four years. This was a successful meeting in which I was able to meet new people and discuss job-seeking skills and mentoring.

Transferrable Skills

The theme this year was transferrable skills. We first introduced ourselves in the larger group, then spoke in smaller groups. Our group focused on finding transferrable skills to answer tough interview queries. We also mentioned possible questions that interviewers can ask during interviews in order to uncover applicants' skill sets. We discussed how skills we learned in one job helped us in another job. We talked about whether we were currently seeking to change positions, and if so, why and what types of positions we were looking for.

New members joined the group as we were speaking, and we briefed them on the topic. They introduced themselves and discussed their situations.

Mentoring

The mentoring coordinator explained the mentoring program. She asked the mentors and mentees to discuss their experiences with the program. I love being a mentor, and I continue to communicate with a mentor that I met over ten years ago while volunteering for the Free Library of Philadelphia. Although she is now retired, we still have great conversations. She gives me a much different perspective on my work situation than I would otherwise have. One of the mentees stated that she loves the emotional support that she gains from her mentor.

I love these semi-annual meetings. I always learn much from my mentees and from my colleagues at ACRL/NY, some of whom are also mentors. Many are very experienced librarians, and I benefit from discussing issues in the library field with them.