The HSLG Mentoring Programme
At our conference in March 2024, the HSLG Committee announced the launch of a mentoring programme with a ‘fireside chat’ between Executive Coach and Mentor, Eimear Carney, and committee member, Jean McMahon, who as well as her librarian role, is also a coach and mentor at Tallaght University Hospital.
We all know that mentoring already happens in an unofficial way for many in the library and information world. This project was designed to create a formal structure for mentoring, with supports in place, whereby experienced librarians and library assistants can register to be mentors, and HSLG members will also be able to request a mentor.
A two-hour, free, online training programme, facilitated by Eimear, was provided three times by the HSLG during 2024. Anyone wishing to sign up as a mentor was asked to join the training and it proved a really interesting and engaging way to learn more about being a mentor or mentee (or both). Don’t forget, being a HSLG mentor only commits you to one session a month with your mentee for a period of six months and is a great addition to your CV!
What potential mentors need to do:
Please now consider signing up as a mentor. Submit a Word document with a bio to hslgmentoring@gmail.com. There is no specific template or word count. You can include a photo or avatar but this is optional. See the current bios on our website for inspiration! https://hslg.ie/hslg-mentoring-programme/mentor-biographies/
Your bio will be publicly viewable so potential mentees can choose a mentor who they feel best suits their requirements. Requests for mentors will come to the HSLG (not directly to you), so you do not need to share your contact details. You can choose whether to accept any request and will also be able to indicate if you are available or not, so you won’t receive requests when you are already mentoring someone or just busy with other things.
We will be arranging a mentoring peer group session in the new year so you can connect and support each other in this process.
What potential mentees need to do:
For those who wish to engage with a mentor: you can read the mentor bios and then click on the ‘Request mentor’ button to indicate which mentor you would like to be matched with. You will be contacted by a committee member once your mentor has agreed to take you on.
Email address
hslgmentoring@gmail.com is the email address that will be used for all future correspondence on mentoring and is monitored by members of the HSLG committee only. Please get in touch with any enquiries, to arrange a chat about mentoring or to request a place on a future training session.
We look forward to hearing from you.
The HSLG Committee