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Mentoring Students

In May 2003 I took part in a mentoring panel at the BCLA Conference. To prepare, I contacted several librarians who participated in our informal mentoring program that began in January 2002. Mentors provided contact information on our website along with a short summary of their background and interests. Students are welcome to call or e-mail a mentor at any time to ask a question or to get some advice or guidance. The program recognizes that many SLA WCC members don't have time to take on more commitments but still want to help students learn more about the profession. We try to provide help to students when it is needed, with no ongoing commitment for a sustained relationship.

Some examples of the kinds of help provided in the past year include: reviewing resumes and cover letters; advice on interviewing; guidance on course selection to prepare for a specific career in the field; choosing between job offers; salary expectations; balancing work and home, etc... Lasting, committed mentoring relationships have developed as a result of the program but an ongoing relationship is not required for students to get the help they need. Despite these successes, I found that the list on our website did not generate very many questions from students. The mentors I interviewed felt that most of the help that they were able to provide to students was a result of being out in the student community, where their name became known.

The reason SLA WCC set up this informal program was based on my talks with students who identified that getting advice from professionals while at school was a real need. In the past, our chapter had run a more formal program where we matched students with volunteer mentors who were then free to establish the parameters of their relationship themselves. In retrospect, this lack of structure may have been its downfall. Some participants found real success and are still in close contact but most relationships fizzled after the first six months as other priorities took over, including the ever-changing needs of the students and the time pressures that are the hallmark of library school and special librarianship.

Definition & goals of mentoring

I think of mentoring as an informal learning relationship. Research suggests that mentoring works more because of the focused individual attention rather than the content of the message. The fact that you are giving one-on-one guidance to someone is more important than what you have to teach. Positive personal attention leads to better learning.

The goals of mentorship are diverse but I think mentoring is one of the best ways to create tacit knowledge. Students learn explicit knowledge in school but a mentor can impart the "know-how." Knowledge is created when students link new information with past experiences; students seek out mentors to make sense of their existing experience. For example, a student might learn in school that special librarians are expected to analyze research results and prepare summaries for executives but they might still want to know how to find time to do this in an environment where research requests typically come fast and furious all day long.

One of the more obvious goals of mentorship is the development of professional relationships. Students seek out mentors to establish professional relationships, especially if they are new to the profession. Mentors can introduce a student or new librarian into their network of colleagues, providing them with even greater access to knowledge about information-work.

Why mentor a student?

Most of the mentors who volunteered for the SLA program want to see new librarians succeed because it helps us all to move forward as a profession. It is not easy to prove the value of the information professional to the corporate world. Every successful librarian has the power to prove the value of our profession to an entire organization. People also appreciate the feeling they get by helping others. Many believe that volunteer power makes the world a better place. One librarian mentioned that she mentors students because it is a great avenue for self-analysis - and cheaper than therapy! Students ask hard questions that make you question your own beliefs or way of doing thing.

How to mentor successfully and avoid the pitfalls

Some people find their professional soul mates through mentorship programs and establish long-term helping, learning relationships; but, more often than not, formal mentorship relationships fail to be sustained over the long term. Why does this happen?

I think that part of the problem is that many students and new librarians don't want a mentor - they want a job! This is something that we all know but often overlook because we want to think that mentoring must go deeper than this. The fact that you are actually employed in the profession is a huge asset to students looking for guidance. They want to know how you got there and a mentor can provide a lot of help to a student seeking employment in a similar field even if you just answer their questions without establishing a formal relationship.

Mentoring relationships usually form when someone has a specific need for knowledge. It may be to help a student get their first professional position or help in learning the culture and expectations of a new job situation. After those needs are fulfilled, students may find that they really have little in common with their mentor to sustain the relationship long-term. The relationship may change to that of professional colleagues or ties may be severed altogether, especially if the two people run in different circles, professionally speaking. If you established an end-date for your relationship, you can part gracefully. Remember, this is not a marriage that is expected to last forever! You may decide to establish a relationship during the student's first year of library school, until they graduate or you may decide to commit to the relationship for 6 months and then re-negotiate at the end of that time. People's needs change and establishing an end-date at the beginning allows people to find new mentors that better meet their needs without guilt. The one thing that I hear over and over again it is that guilt killed the relationship. Everyone starts out with the best of intentions but life gets in the way! Soon you're missing appointments and feeling guilty that you've let the other person down. Establish a relationship for a time period that you both can handle whether it is 6 months or 6 minutes.

Many people say that the secret to the success of a good mentoring relationship depends on the student preparing an agenda for each meeting to make sure that they get the most out of the relationship and are respectful of their mentor's time. While I agree that thinking about your issues is a good idea, I doubt that you'll have burning issues to resolve at every meeting. Remember that learning is based on goal directed activity and social interaction. Base your relationship on friendship as well as learning. Rather than trying to conjure up some issue to justify a meeting, just meet for coffee sometimes with no agenda at all.

Mentoring programs: what have we learned?

After evaluating our informal mentoring program, I have learned that the list of mentors on our website is not being used very much by students to find mentors. The list does communicate that our association wants to help students learn about their chosen career and that has value in itself. I'm going to leave it to the next student liaison to decide whether the program is worth continuing.

One of the most valuable things that I can confirm is that students are getting help from our members who choose to be out there, networking with students, guest lecturing in their classrooms, inviting them for a practicum and welcoming them into our association. SLA WCC works closely with the SLA student group at UBC to support their activities and helps bring their issues to the larger association. Students get to know the local leaders and they do call with their questions and seek out our members for advice, and we welcome that.

We should all try to build upon that success by trying to meet face-to-face with more students more often. Ask yourself, "Can I":

Take a student to lunch?
Offer a student a tour of my library?
Make a presentation to a student class?
Advise a student on a research topic?

You can make a difference just by getting yourself out there.

Tracey Carmichael is a librarian at the BC Securities Commission. She was the Student Liaison for SLA WCC for 2002/2003.