Mind Over Mentor

Recently, I have been hearing a lot about the concept of mentoring, causing me to give some thought to my entry into academic librarianship and where I am now. I found that starting out was a series of really hard knocks. I'm not sure whether our student participants will want to hear this but, in general, library school provided a kind of cushion that I don't think prepared me for what would happen when I left.

First of all, I am completely in support of the mentoring programs that take place in library schools. In fact, I was very involved in developing Dalhousie's Professional Partnering programme and running it through the CLA student chapter. But, while I benefitted greatly from the contact I had with my professional partner, I eventually graduated and moved halfway across the country, making significant continuation of that relationship very difficult. Further to that, the Dalhousie professional partners take on new student partners each year (or every two years) and that occupies a lot of their time. While I know I could always call on my past partner for advice and support, it's not quite the same as having someone nearby.

I have spent the last few years feeling a bit in limbo because I really wasn't sure what to do with my career. I've had lots of ideas about where I want to go, but not much direction about how to get there. I hear lots of useful talk about "mentors", but how does one actually find such a person? It's pretty difficult to walk up to someone with years of administrative experience and say "Will you be my mentor?" the way you would walk up to a store window with your mother and say "Can I have a puppy?". Talking about mentoring is all well and good, but how do we make it happen once we leave the library school bubble?

It strikes me that our library associations could have a significant role to play in helping facilitate these kinds of relationships for new professionals. It would be nice to somehow identify senior librarians who are interested in and capable of working with new professionals to help them find the right path. While I often hear about workplace mentoring programs, I see a few potential problems with that model, things like a lack of experienced managers to go around and a possible appearance of favouritism that could ultimately harm a burgeoning career.

I would also love to see our associations playing a role in connecting experienced researchers with new and enthusiastic professionals who are interested in 'learning the ropes' in this arena. This could foster national and even international collaboration and increase production of solid professional literature.

So, my question is: how can we connect those new professionals who are looking for direction with the senior administrators who are willing to take on the challenge? And, in the meantime, how do you find someone you respect to play that kind of role? Even if you get up the confidence to pose the question, is it too much to ask? And, for any of the seasoned professionals out there, how would you react to being asked?