Mentoring in \"The Role of Mentoring,\" Michael

Mentoring

In "The Role of Mentoring," Michael Stephens shows how mentors can be useful in the field of librarian science. Using the basic principles upon which mentoring programs are developed, and which are supported in our textbook, Stephens advises the use of technology to facilitate mentoring. In the article, the author expresses the value of mentoring for the librarian profession. Mentoring is more than just teaching and training the new librarian. It has to do with the totality of the position, including the working environment. For example, a mentor can help the new recruit to get along well with coworkers and managers. Mentoring has not played a significant role in developing new librarians, but it should, states Stephens.

There are benefits for professors as well as librarians when introducing a mentoring program. For one, the mentoring program can facilitate networking and communications between various departments. However, one must be careful not to confuse networking events with mentoring, or worse yet, to substitute networking events for mentoring. Librarians tend to be introverted, which means that social events are not the ideal places where the new recruits can ease into their new professions. Professors of library studies are not good mentors, claims Stephens, because they do not actually do the work of the librarian in their daily lives. Perhaps professors of library studies make good mentors of future professors of library studies.

The author also points out that administrators can play a significant role in developing and promoting mentoring programs for librarians. Administrators can teach the new librarians about the reasons for the decisions they make with regards to resource acquisitions. Budgetary concerns that are in the province of administrators are often not communicated well to librarians. Stephens does an excellent job of explaining why administrators should be more transparent about their decisions, so that librarians have more comprehensive understanding of their work.

Finally, Stephens points out that mot current library science mentoring programs are "informal." They should be formalized, notes Stephens. The reasons for formalizing the mentoring program include consistency, effectiveness, comprehensiveness, and funding. The article is brief, but outlines some of the core concepts in the textbook related to why mentoring is helpful for new recruits.

There are no real flaws in the author's analysis. The article is not an experimental research design or anything formal, but it offers a cogent argument in favor of mentoring, which is good for the profession of library science. The reasons the author offers are in keeping with the core tenets of mentoring as well as the core issues in library science. Mentors can offer role models and support for new librarians and help improve the organizational culture. I fully agree with Stephen's assessments. Mentoring programs need to be more formalized so that librarians understand the institutions they are working for, the people they are working with, and the technologies they are using to deliver the services that they are trained to deliver.