To Sir With Love

When I was in library school, I found something that changed the course of my career. I found a mentor. An awesome, ridiculously talented librarian who's been in the biz for over twenty years and has managed to stay current and excited about being a librarian. He took a liking to me and went out of his way to show me the ropes when he really didn't have to. It was like he was Clint Eastwood and I was Hilary Swank, except he isn't gruff and crusty, and I do not look like a vulcan. And there was no boxing. And I don't want him to try and kill me. Ok, forget the Clint Eastwood thing. My mentor taught me a bunch of stuff and inspired me, is what I was going for there.

It all happened when I did an internship during library school, and because so many of my classmates were doing internships, I thought that we were all having these great mentor relationships where knowledge was being passed down from master to apprentice and we were all learning secret tricks of the trade and having someone be the wind beneath our wings and alla that. It was only later that I realized how lucky I was, that it was just luck and serendipity and that I should thank my Lucky Charms, purple horseshoes and all, for that experience.

Now that I work in a library, I see just how many opportunities we all have, as a profession, to mentor library students. And I'm sorry to say that it just doesn't happen a lot of the time. I know that we're all incredibly stretched for time. Plastic Man should've been a librarian for all the stretching we do. But I know what a profound difference that one mentor made in my career, so I wish I saw it more. There is a part of me that thinks (especially compared to the mentor I had): who the hell am I to teach someone else how to do this racket? I'm a baby librarian. How can I honestly look an MLS student in the eye and say "listen to my wisdom, Grasshopper"? But my plea to all of you librarians reading this is to go ahead and do it. Ok, maybe not a plea, exactly. A prompt. A suggestion. Befriend your interns. Be encouraging. Give them interview tips. I know it feels weird since you may not have that ten or twenty years of experience, but you still have something to give them. You have the job, don't you? So you must know something. Well, maybe you do, maybe you don't. I guess I shouldn't assume. But just do something mentor-y for an MLS student. I don't know, yell "HOO-AHH! at them Al Pacino style. Tell them to wax on, wax off. Something.

All I know is, I think I owe just as much of my librarian education to my mentor as I do to library school, and all he did was talk to me a bunch about what he does, what he thinks, and conveyed a sense of confidence in me and my abilities that I started to believe in. If this cool librarian thinks I am worth his time, that does a lot. I would stand up on my desk and say "Oh captain, my captain" for that experience. Well, maybe, depending on the shoes I was wearing. At any rate, mentor someone. It'll make someone feel all Clairol and "I'm worth it."

Kiss the rings, I'm out.
Librarian Girl