January is National Mentoring Month

January is National Mentoring Month

by Stephanie (Sara Leah) Gross, MSLIS
Chair, Mentoring Committee
Association of Jewish Libraries

NEW! For all members of the NY Librarians Meetup: We, too, now have mentors! Please see this link on our meetup page. I'm introducing this new feature in the hopes that it will enable our members to get more out of our valuable collective expertise. If you're interested in either being a mentor or getting one, please contact me for more information. Use the comment space below to weigh-in on the value of mentoring and what you might wish to find in such a program.

(Photo credit: Basic Research with Jen Lee Blog)

Revised post:

January is National Mentoring Month
I just returned from an innervating session with 40 council members at the annual mid-winter conference. Of course, there were the usual deliberations about budget, convention expenditures and ratifications of past minutes. However, there were some much-awaited proposals for innovations to increase our membership as well as make AJL a more-valuable resource to its members.

• Michelle Chesner, RAS Secretary, pushed for more inclusion of library science students, including free membership for them. She related how her internship at NYU’s dual-master’s program with a qualified mentor shaped her future in the profession. I have long been involved with library students, from my early days in the New York Library Club, and most recently with my own networking group (NY Librarians Meetup Group). Now, I was finally hearing multiple voices who wished to propel this idea into action. Although still in its infancy, I was given to understand that there will be collaboration among at least a few committees: the Task Force, RAS, SSC and Mentoring.

• Professional development and continuing education: To be honest, such collaboration will be a challenge for our organization, where many members have been out of library school for considerable time. Not to worry, there are great plans for professional development and continuing education, including podcasts, webinars and wikis. I requested that any members who had a desire to include mentorship in their work contact me so that we may get down to business as soon as possible.

• Internships and grants: Michelle also described possible initiatives concerning student internships as well as IMLS(Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) grants. The former will certainly help draw new members as well as the much needed “fresh blood” to maintain our momentum.

• We were given a preview of the new web site which is scheduled for its roll-out February 1st. In addition to being able to edit our committee pages more easily than in the past, members will be able to set up their profiles, included headshots and social media links. For those interested in networking and establishing appropriate visibility, these improvements will be a boon, especially to our new members.

• I hope to sponsor a Mentor Mingle at the Montreal convention, but must remind all chapters and divisions that mentoring is a processes that is mutually beneficial to those involved, from the individuals to the association itself. It is a perk of membership that is at times under-used, and we must be vigilant that we do not lose sight of our mission as educators to share, support and encourage newcomers to our group and to our organization.

• As Chair of the Mentoring Committee, I’m hoping that my committee will be more effective to members in “far-flung” corners of the world where access to Judaica librarians is challenging. I hope to use my space on the web for telecommunication, such as Skype, Instant Messaging, and perhaps even group events on social media such as Facebook or Second Life. If there are individuals out there who would like to be included in this initiative, please contact me at AJLMentoringATgmail.com. Until that time, do make a point of visiting my page on the AJL wiki dedicated to social media for librarians. Look it over and please send me feed-back. We will all benefit from that.


New Book on Mentoring: Now, onto a special “shout-out” for a new book on mentoring by ALA. The title is aptly, Mentoring in the Library: Building for the Future by Marta K. Lee. I must say that it certainly met my expectations from the first peek at the Introduction. I learned of this book through an ALA newsletter alert on new publications and immediately purchased it online (ISBN 9780838935934 ; $50.) It arrived in the mail just today, and I thought “How marvelous! Just in time for my blog post! The book itself is a mere 122 pages, replete with chapters devoted to enumerating the kind of skills a mentor should have, with techniques for successful development, education and training. Also included are guidelines for establishing formal and informal mentoring arrangements, with a chapter devoted to mentoring librarians electronically. The book flap boasts “In this useful book, Lee shows librarians how mentoring can be both personally satisfying and a path to career development.” Besides the requisite bibliography and index, this handbook includes appendices with forms for requests, proposals, and promotion review timetable . Of interest, too, are the case studies from two academic institutions. However, both volunteers and school librarians are given space, so those who are not planning mentorship in RAS will still wish to give this volume and careful read. Finally, the book jacket suggests other related titles, such as Coaching in the Library: A management Strategy for achieving excellence 2nd ed. By Ruth F. Metz and Succession planning in the library: Developing leaders, managing change by Paul M Singer with Gail Griffith. These books may be order at www.alastore.ala.org or 866.746.7252!

Happy Mentoring! Remember to send your stories, lessons learned, and feedback to be shared with others. Look for me, too, on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. I often post to AJL, but have my own Twitter account (NYLibrarians). Other contact information: ajlmentoring AT gmail.com. Skype: Stephanie.L.Gross. Best of luck to you all in 2011! I plan to be at the convention in June, so do send me ideas for sessions or general ideas for PR and outreach. You need not be a library student, and librarians in transition as well as newly-minted librarians are warmly encouraged to become involved.

Join Us for a Book Club Meeting Next Month!

Hi, All-

I’m writing to extend an invitation to join us for the next meeting of our New York Librarians Book Club. Although we’re happy to have returning attendees, the group is open to anyone who wants to drop in for occasional discussions. Our upcoming meeting will be held at a member’s apartment in Chelsea on Tuesday, February 15^th at 6:30 PM. We welcome you to join us for a casual book discussion with other librarians and library students, a light meal, and some post-Valentine’s Day candy!

Our first club selection was This Book is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save the World by Marilyn Johnson, followed by Sinclair Lewis’ Nobel Prize-winning small town satire Main Street, in which the protagonist, Carol Milford, spends her pre-marriage years as a public librarian in the Twin Cities. Our next title is the member-suggested The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr.

If you’d like to participate in online discussions, post ideas for future group reads, or message other book clubbers, please check out (and join!) our Goodreads group, here: http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/38703.The_New_York_Librarians_Book_Club

You can RSVP for the book club meeting on MeetUp; we hope to see you there!

Happy Reading!

THE POETS HOUSE - OASIS ON THE HUDSON

On the torrid Friday afternoon of July 16th approximately ten intrepid members of the NY Librarians Meetup Group crossed over the sweltering West Side Highway and entered the cool glass oasis of the newly relocated Poets House. For those who love visiting the Cloisters and musing about life as you look out over the Hudson a visit to the Poets House, located at 10 River Terrace, straight down Murray Street, overlooking both the Hudson River and a tree lined park in Battery Park City merits a look see. And visitors don’t have to be enamored with Robert Frost or Emily Dickinson, whose poetic line “I dwell in possibility” adorns the wall leading to the exhibit/performance room to appreciate this marvelous literary space. The soaring glass windows letting in the western sunlight reflected off the Hudson is so awe inspiring and serenity inducing that you will want to plump yourself down on one of the soft fabric couches in the second floor reading room with or without glancing at one of the 50,000 American poetry volumes gracing the open bright white shelving system at Poets House.

Before heading to the second floor reading room, however, I recommend contacting Ms. Carlin Wragg, the Poets House effervescent Community Relations Manager for a guided tour. While we cooled off in the lobby, signed the e-mail list and donned turquoise buttons emblazoned with the words “Poets House” and “poetry advocate” Ms. Wragg introduced herself and the volunteer high school and college interns and the staff member responsible for the poetry community outreach program who also accompanied us on our tour. Like all good hostesses, Ms. Wragg inquired as to our backgrounds which brought us to one of the purposes in visiting the Poets House. While most of the interns were English majors with a strong interest in poetry our group comprised librarians with varying interests, not necessarily of the literary variety. However, as Ms. Wragg and Stephanie, the Meetup group’s organizer, pointed out librarianship is a many splendored career encompassing many facets. Our visit to the Poets House was therefore particularly timely in this epoch of librarian career transitions. Indeed, Ms. Wragg stated that the Poets House began as a literary organization but now also functioned somewhat as a ‘library’ requiring unique library skills.

Those library/literary skills were evident as we viewed the 18th Annual Poets House Showcase which displays all the poetry books published in America for that Showcase year. Also included in the annual showcase are self published poetry tomes sent to the show organizers and chapbooks. Chapbooks form an important part of the Poets House collection and it recently held its second annual chapbook festival. The yearly “special collection” of poetry which numbered 2,000 volumes this year comprises the Poets’ House yearly acquisition; all of the selections are sent in by publishers or self-published poets and there is no special acquisitions budget. The original collection began in a Soho loft from personal donations from the reading collection of poets acquainted with the organization. The Poets House is clearly a hybrid literary/library institution and as we wandered over to the displays to touch the exhibited works Ms. Wragg expressed the idea that the Poets House taught librarianship without the formalities of an official program. I certainly agree that there is nothing ‘formal’ about any of the space in the Poets House and every corner of this glass wonder fulfills its purpose to, according to Ms. Wragg, lend a human face to poetry.

The human face of poetry moved this writer, whose appreciation of poetry wouldn’t merit a Richter scale rating, to pounce on the openly displayed Showcase poetry works. The curators of this annual showcase created a most enticing literary and visual outpouring of poetry books since the books displayed on cherry wood shelves all faced outward, cover face up, and organized alphabetically by publishers so no volumes were granted undue favor. An irrestible force compelled me to pick them up and open them in much the same way a chocolate lover would open up a brightly wrapped bonbon. The exhibition space for the poetry showcase is a marvel and perfectly suited to those with a poet’s soul and a flair for the dramatic. The exhibition room, used for performances and poetry readings throughout the year faces South Teardrop Park which can be seen from wide floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Not only can visitors to the exhibition room look out at a park while hearing poetry readings, but the glass doors fully open out on the park. During poetry readings or dramatizations visitors can sit on the rock outcroppings in South Teardrop Park and watch the performance. Not only does the Poets House’s specially designed performance flow into a stone courtyard but the room is fitted with all the modern multi-media accoutrements such as HD video cameras which record the readings. Soon, these readings will be available online for those who miss the wonderful performances.

As we continued our tour, the Poets House continued to surprise and delight us. After we left the Showcase exhibit the group floated into the whimsical Constance Laibe Hays Children’s Room. This small oddly shaped area resembles a half oval and its glass enclosed space overlooking the lobby area creates the perfect cocoon to introduce children to the joys of poetry. Inside, this lopsided “egg” is an archway under the main staircase – a secret crawl space within the children’s room – a sort of tree house on the ground - where children can hide out and play with the various stuffed animals scattered along the old fashioned desks and floor or look at the many picture poetry books housed in bookshelves. Children are encouraged to write poems on the typewriters – yes, not even electric – located in the children’s area. According to Mike, the children’s room curator, one child cleverly called the typewriter a “screen less computer.” Out of the mouth of babes! Children’s creativity is strongly encouraged in this welcoming space; once a month an author does a program with the kids and these young poets visiting the Poets House use objects in the children’s room in a dynamic way. For instance, there is an old-fashioned catalog with poetry cards which contain images. The youngsters can use these cards to draw images.

Last but not least was our visit to the upstairs aforementioned reading room where the adult poetry works are displayed and can be read staring out the panoramic windows level with the trees overlooking the Hudson. Upstairs is also another climate controlled glass enclosed room for rare poetry book/works exhibits and a conference room whose windows face Ellis Island in honor of the immigrant ancestors of the room’s donors. The Poets House reading room contains ample room for visitors to plug in their laptops and enjoy the view as it provides free wireless. There is also audio equipment in carousels to play poetry readings - providing the perfect accompaniment when looking out to the magnificent sun dappled trees.
The Poets House provides the perfect accompaniment of grace and light for anyone who longs to escape quotidian travails. I can’t wait to read Emily Dickinson overlooking the Hudson River esplanade.

For further information on The Poets House please visit http://www.poetshouse.org/.

By Jodi Cantor

Related articles by Zemanta

• A Year in Poetry at Poets House in Lower Manhattan (nytimes.com)
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• Walkers Gather for Poets House (online.wsj.com)
• A Poetry Bonanza in Lower Manhattan (blogs.forbes.com)

Finding an internship through NY Librarians Meetup by Marc E. Shelton

In the discourse of a slow recovering economy, and as an ever-present
Library School Student attending Queens College Graduate School of
Library and Information Science program in Flushing, New York I found
the NY Librarian’s Meetup Group. This particular Meetup has been very
beneficial in providing a social networking space for the needs of
Librarian’s and Library Students alike in areas such as museum and
archive visits, library tours, resume workshops, and library skills of
various sorts. Social outings have included coffee shop sit downs, a
walk and tour through the Botanical Gardens.

Just recently I have been privileged to accept a volunteer internship
at a Brooklyn based organization called Children of Promise. Children
of Promise, NYC (CPNYC) is a Brooklyn based organization committed to
embracing and empowering children of incarcerated parents to break the
cycle of intergenerational involvement in the criminal system. CPNYC’s
mission is to provide children of prisoners with the guidance, support
and the opportunities necessary to effectively develop leadership
skills, form positive social relationships and enhance academic
performance. Implementing the principles and best practices of youth
development, this innovative after-school program infuses a mental
health model. Mental health based intervention allows CPNYC to acknowledge the
traumas children of prisoners experience and to address the problems
and challenges at the root, allowing young people to create new
behaviors, new habits and new reactions. It also allows staff to
understand the sources of negative and inappropriate conduct and model
appropriate behaviors and reactions.

Through my volunteer internship, I will be among 3-4 other library
school students who will help to develop their afterschool and summer
day camp library. They are in need of new/used children and teen
books. If you think you can help, please contact me at Librarianmarc[at]gmail.com. We will be organizing and cataloging their new library and helping to set up and
implementation plan for running the library smoothly. This is a great
chance for me to help others, especially children in special
situations. The NY Librarian’s Meetup Group has been the force behind
the inspiration to getting me out and looking for career-related
experiences, internships and a job.

Through my membership, I have attended a few of these events. Joining is free and the
social networking you experience is a lifetime experience that builds
on everything you already know. Stephanie is a hard-working organizer, dedicated to pleasing a wide range of professionals, library students, and individuals considering librarianship. So get involved, come to a few
groups, share what interests you and make a few suggestions as to things you would like to see happen. That’s all in the spirit of Meetups.

Best of Luck,

Marc E. Shelton
Librarianmarc[at]gmail.com