Having a mentor can be an excellent way for a library professional to learn, but successful mentorship doesn’t need to stay within a single library department.
Jasmine Shumaker, reference and instruction librarian, and Joe Lee, interlibrary loan specialist, both at University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s Albin O. Kuhn Library and Gallery, shared their experiences at “Steering the ‘Ship: Navigating a Cross-Departmental, Cross-Status Mentorship in an Academic Library,” a January 20 ShopTalk program at the American Library Association’s 2024 LibLearnX conference in Baltimore.
Shumaker became a mentor to Lee, who is currently pursuing an MLIS at University of Maryland, College Park, in September 2022, after Lee had attended a mentoring collective event organized by two other Kuhn librarians, Joanna Gadsby and Kathryn Sullivan. Shumaker and Lee hit if off thanks to a shared interest in patron data privacy and artificial intelligence.
Since then, the pair has engaged in a series of collaborations, including coteaching classes, sharing a HeinOnline database trial, and cowriting a WOC+Lib article on intentional mentorship. Right now they are organizing a privacy and AI symposium that will be held in April and planning a presentation for the Maryland Library Association/Delaware Library Association Annual Conference in May.
Their mentorship may not be obvious: Schumaker is a librarian, Lee is a student, and they work in separate departments. But, the two say, those factors aren’t critical. “A successful mentorship opportunity is really a network of individuals who are balanced and working toward a common goal,” Shumaker said.
“Reaching out to others, not just in your department, signals that you have a vested interest in the library’s future and other people’s works as well,” Lee added.
Support from managers and administrators is an important factor in successful mentorship. Shumaker and Lee were able to gain this support, in part, by demonstrating that their mentorship relationship did not adversely affect their primary responsibilities.
The two note that mentors may also be found outside the library entirely. Lee recommended mentorship programs organized by ALA affiliate groups, specifically citing the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association’s program. Shumaker echoed that, suggesting groups based around shared interests, like the Library Freedom Project.
Informal conversations can also prove fruitful. “I know water cooler talk can be super awkward, but these casual conversations can lead to some unexpected opportunities,” Shumaker said. She mentioned the AI privacy symposium she and Lee are organizing to a colleague, who shared it with another colleague. That indirect connection asked to join the planning team. Added Shumaker: “We would have never known she had this interest.”
