Mentoring Archives

Management Mistakes and tips to solve them

and some tips to try to solve them. In my system, a lot of children’s librarians become managers. It makes a lot of sense, as children’s librarians are constantly juggling multiple priorities, have to deal with a high level of work, and are invested and passionate about library work. In fact, I think children’s librarians make great managers for all those reasons (but maybe I am biased)! If you are thinking of becoming a manager or are just starting out in management, check out these classic management mistakes and learn how to avoid them.

Guest Blogger

Using the Covid experience to help us grow in our work

May 12, 2022May 12, 2022| Guest Contributor|Leave a comment

Earlier this year, Maeve Brewer and Mary Voors joined the ALSC Mentoring program with the hope that collaborative learning and personal/professional growth would result. We decided that one of our mentorship goals would be to write a blogpost on the general topic of how we can use the Covid experience to help us become stronger and more adaptable children’s librarians and managers.

Blogger School-Age Programs and Service Committee

Near-Peer Connections for Literacy: NYPL’s Portal Magazine

February 26, 2022February 16, 2022| School-Age Programs and Services Committee|Leave a comment

NYPL After School is a free drop-in program for kids aged 6-12 that takes place after regular school hours, Monday through Thursday, from October-June, when school is in session. Teen Reading Ambassadors are employed in our After School program, acting as leaders and role models to younger kids, ambassadors for the Library’s mission to inspire a lifelong love of reading and learning, and writers and editors of their very own magazine. Rachel Roseberry is the Manager of Young Adult Literacy Programs at The New York Public Library and I caught up with her to learn more about the magazine project and how it came to be.

Administrative and Management Skills

Staying Out of Trouble

January 29, 2022January 19, 2022| ALSC Managing Children’s Services Committee|Leave a comment

Whenever I look at something going bad, I ask: Are there systems in place? Are they up to date? Are they implemented? It all leads up to making decisions on high consequence, low probability events, or what many call high risk – low frequency. Think of your library. Each library consists of a distinct set of offices, branches, departments, or at a minimum, colleagues each with set of things for which they are responsible. Let’s just call them the things we do; each of us. Your job is complex. There may be hundreds or thousands of things you do that need to happen correctly so that your library, office, branch, or department can function; consistently delivering upon its mission. Those things all have one singular goal; doing it right. In youth work, if you are going to recommend titles, you do it right. If you are presenting a story time,…

Blogger Amy Steinbauer

Staff Love Languages

January 14, 2022January 13, 2022| Amy Steinbauer|1 Comment

Ahead of Valentine’s Day, it’s a good time to think about the love languages of your colleagues/staff. This is always important to think about, but it feels more important with the low morale, stress of Covid & handing out test kits, and winter blahs; I want to ensure that my staff feel appreciated and supported as much as possible. Below is my riff on the five long languages as they apply to working in the library.

Guest Blogger

Staying connected across time zones, and continents

October 18, 2021October 14, 2021| Guest Contributor|Leave a comment

How can you build and maintain professional connections when you can’t meet up in person? Making a long-distance (or trans-Atlantic!) mentorship work across time zones is no easy task under normal circumstances, and with the additional challenges the pandemic presented, ALSC mentee Aryssa Damron and ALSC mentor Celeste Rhoads had to lay out some ground rules together for communication before beginning our partnership. The ALSC mentorship program was a great opportunity to establish good communication habits across many channels, and many of the tricks and guidelines applied to this working relationship could be used to establish professional connections and maintain relationships with fellow-professionals outside of an official mentorship program.

Mentoring

Over 30 ALSC mentees are seeking mentors!

October 7, 2021October 6, 2021| Elizabeth Serrano|Leave a comment

ALSC Mentoring Program Image. Applications Close October 11

Applications for the ALSC Mentoring Program are now open and we are in (serious) need of mentors! To date, we’ve received over 30 mentee applications. Wow! Many of them are students or early children’s career professionals, but we also have some mentees who are new to supervisory positions and are looking to connect with others who have experience in managing children’s services.