Mentoring Programs
Updated: April 30, 2020
Having a mentor can be a powerful addition to professional or career development:
- The Future of Human Resources in Canadian Libraries (the 8Rs Study) found that new graduates require on-the-job mentoring to facilitate their growth and development in their roles and to provide for a knowledge transfer from experienced professionals to recently hired professionals.
- Mentoring programs can be aimed at target populations that are underrepresented in the profession or in the organization.
- Mentoring is an effective way to help employees improve their essential skills, and it doesn’t require a lot of resources to be successful. It can also reinforce strong relationships among employees, support a learning culture in the workplace, and increase productivity.
There are also many benefits for the mentee and mentor:
- Benefits for the mentee
- Improved skills
- Increased self- confidence
- Increased motivation
- Increased job satisfaction
- Increased productivity
- Benefits for the mentor
- Increased opportunities to share skills and knowledge
- Increased opportunities to develop leadership skills
- Increased job satisfaction
- Increased sense of value in the workplace
(Source: Employment and Social Development Canada)
To suggest additions or updates to this page, e-mail info@librarianship.ca
Programs
Alberta Association of Academic Libraries (AAAL) Mentorship Program
The Alberta Association of Academic Libraries (AAAL) is pleased to provide a mentorship program for its members. The goal of the program is to support career development, share professional advice with those who want to achieve success, promote networking and provide leadership to the profession.
ARMA Canada Connection Program
The ARMA Canada’s Connection Program promotes the development of Canadian professionals new to the profession of Records and Information Management by strengthening their ARMA Clipprofessional capacity through allowing them to seek opportunities to understand new approaches being implemented by seasoned ARMA members.
The PPP is a flexible mentoring program that connects students in McGill’s School of Information Studies with information professionals with similar professional interests.
Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) Mentorship Program
The Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) is pleased to be able to offer a mentorship program for new archivists and archival studies students who are ACA members!
British Columbia Library Association (BCLA) Mentorship Program
The BCLA Mentorship Program exists to connect and empower Association members by fostering positive relationships in the library community. The program encourages sharing, and aims to promote leadership and commitment to the profession.
Mentees must be BCLA members in good standing in order to be eligible for the program.
Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL) Mentorship Program
The CALL Mentorship Program is an initiative intended to connect law library professionals pursuing new professional development with more experienced professionals. The program aims to foster positive relationships between members that will promote growth, leadership, and commitment to the profession.
Canadian Museums Association (CMA) RBC Foundation Museum Mentorship Program
The RBC Foundation Museum Mentorship program is administered by the Canadian Museums Association (CMA) with the generous financial support of the Royal Bank of Canada’s RBC Foundation. The program aims to provide quality, mentored learning experiences for emerging museum professionals over a period of 4 to 6 months. The program is designed to enhance the participants employability skills, while structured mentoring helps to coach and champion the emerging professional to future success.
Ontario Library Association (OLA) MentorMatch Program
The Ontario Library Association Mentoring Program strives to link working library staff with students, new graduates and other library staff interested in a career in libraries and related fields.
Mentors and mentees must be OLA members to participate in the program.
SIMConnect (Dalhousie University, School of Information Management)
Dalhousie’s SIMConnect pairs MLIS students with library and information management professionals so that they can connect in a mentoring relationship.
Visible Minority Librarians of Canada (ViMLoC) Network Mentorship Program
The Visible Minority Librarians of Canada (ViMLoC) Network recognizes the need to help visible minority librarians, especially new librarians and new immigrant librarians, develop their professional careers, as well as the need to encourage and guide visible minority library students with career planning. The program will recruit experienced visible minority librarians as potential mentors, as well as facilitate the matching of potential mentors to mentees.