AJL Mentoring 2009
“Step forward and be counted”
Presented by Committee Chair:
Stephanie (Sara Leah) Gross, MSLIS MATESOL
Stephanie’s Homepage

Mentoring Mission Statement
 The mission of the Mentoring Committee is to
assist AJL members new to the field of Judaica
librarianship or members experiencing new
aspects of the field in finding experiences
librarians to whom they can regularly turn for
guidance.
 Further, our mission is to promote “best
mentoring practices” and to encourage
mentoring at national, chapter, and individual
levels.

State of the Mentoring Committee to Date
 Number of mentor pairs from across the USA : 20 (plus/
minus)
 One chair, no other official committee members (but
much input from others)
 Openings for: Secretary, Liaisons (including students)
 Should include members from local chapters and/or
divisions
 Revise Mentor/Mentee application. (e.g. Encourage
mentees to submit C.V. or background notes)
QUESTION: Submit separate requests for mentors on
different subject areas?

Role of the AJL Mentoring
Committee
 Helps members build relationships in
which they can give and receive, learn and
grow.
 Mentees avoid reinventing the wheel
 Mentors deepen their understanding of the
field by teaching about it.

Recommendations for Mentors
 Informal commitment to 1-2 hours weekly
contact with mentee
 Desire to connect with new professional(s) in
order to establish collegial relationships with
them beyond casual friendship
 Approach should be that of a counselor/advisor,
someone who will guide new librarians in the
path of appropriate behavior (i.e.
communication, collaboration, troubleshooting,
keeping abreast of technology, etc.)

Brief Biography of Presenter
 BGU English and Teaching Certificate
 MATESOL, St. Michael’s College VT
 MSLIS, Pratt Institute, Board Certification
School Media Specialist
 Employed: Yeshiva University, Electronic
Reserves
 For more information: My Homepage

Organizational Affiliations
 VP, New York Library Club, Inc.
 Organizer, NY Librarians Meetup
 Chair, AJL Mentoring Committee
 Member, AJL-NYMA
 Member, ACRL-NY (affiliated w/LACUNY)
 Member, myMETRO (focus group, panel for CE & PD)
 Member, Beta Phi Mu/Theta chapter

Web 2.0 applications (personal selection)
 Facebook (Lev Grossman, TIME March 19, 2009 “Why Facebook is for Old
Foggies” http://tinyurl.com/cdugjz) e.g. Getting in touch, Business contacts, Don’t understand
Twitter, Forgotten email addresses (add: privacy).
 LinkedIn : Contacts and referrals
 Twitter: Microblogging (i.e. 150 characters)
 Delicious: Bookmark sharing with notes
 Flickr: Secure site for sharing pictures (and videos)
 YouTube: Educational, personal webcam videos
 MySpace: Glitzy alternative to FB (mainly for entertainers)
 Meetup.com:
 NY Librarians Meetup (Organizer)
 NYC Hebrew Language Meetup (Member)
 Facebook/LinkedIn Meetup, and others (occasional)

Current trends
 Collaboration of ideas and resources
 Aim to be intergenerational (i.e. Gen-X,
Gen-Y, Millennial’s, plus Baby-Boomers)

Current trends (cont’d)
 Healthy competition, but not exclusion
 Appreciation of various modes of communication
w/forms of information (i.e. print & digital) 
Promote effective Task/Project management
 Lead in the way to follow. Set trends (Tsvi Muskal, UN
@ NYMA Fall 2007)
 Demonstrate sensitivity to “Netiquette”, including
confidentiality, timeliness, volume of emails,
appropriateness of postings.

Contemporary modes of
communication
 E-Mail (with attachments, PDFs)
 Fax (less popular, too print-dependent)
 Cellphone (detest texting, but OK with
Sprint Picture Mail)
 IM (Instant Messaging)
 Facebook (FB) Chat
 Gmail (Chat & Talk)
 Yahoo! IM
 Meebo & Trillian

Blogging
 Microblogging:
 Twitter
 Facebook (aggregator)
 Blogging:
 Blogger account (dormant)
 Yahoo! 360 (explore technology and how its
used, experienced, issues and solutions)

Related Committees, SIGs,
individuals, etc.
 Accreditation (Avi Chai separate)
 Professional Development (e.g. METRO)
 Continuing Education (AJL, alma maters, online SILS
schools [U Wisconsin])
 Student librarians and newly employed (Form committee
for career advisement and job hunters? SD)
 Subject specialists (e.g. Weine users) through
Homepage portal or MC link
 Subject specialists, including authors, contributors who
will earn royalties through publications (see also:
Hasafran discussion concerning mentor v. consultant)

Guidelines for Mentors: Avoiding
typical pitfalls
 Help your mentee identify areas in which
they need guidance
 Guide your mentee through their projects,
BUT do not take over their work for them.
 Guide your mentee to other information
sources (including other people) as
needed.
 Help your mentee network. Introduce
them to people who are useful to know.

Other roles for mentors
 Provide moral support and a calming
influence (re: soft or hard skills).
 Give an annual progress report to the
Mentoring committee about your
mentoring relationship, and contact us
when/where necessary.
 Promote “study buddies” for learning new
technology, projects (e.g. book fairs)

Guidelines for mentees
 Use written, online (e.g. webinars), or live sources to
education yourself as much as you can
 Examples of resources are:
 Hasafran listserv (digest)
 AJL Publications (esp. bibliographies and book reviews)
 The FAQ on the AJL web page (as well as resources and
directory)
 The Freshman Seminar at the annual AJL Convention
 Your local chapter meetings and division conferences.
 Other local organizations, e.g. METRO, SLA, etc.

Remember:
 There are no dumb questions.
 Be sure to share your successes with your
mentor, as well as your questions and
problems.

Further Reading
 Farmer, D., M. Stockham, & A. Trussell
(January 2009) Revitalizing a mentoring
program for academic librarians. College
& Research Libraries (70 )1 : 8-24.
 SmartComputing. Inexpensive annual
subscription. Perks include own account,
save articles and tips, Q&A, as well as
technical support.