I wrote recently about my experience conducting a research interview with a senior librarian at another school. As challenging as this assignment has been for me, the interactions that I had with my interviewee have been wonderful. She was happy to meet with me in my needed format, we took our time in our discussion, and we talked about a few things outside of the assignment.
Our interview topic was about the challenges that libraries face in implementing mentoring programs. Some libraries struggle with orienting new hires to their FAQ system, chat reference software, and metadata practices. Others with the challenges of designing and implementing programming, or engaging with students in a classroom setting. Some librarians seek mentoring to help develop their soft skills, learn to navigate the academic power structure, and develop professional confidence. Even librarians who have been around for a minute may need career trajectory advice, or suggestions for how to avoid burnout.
As a student, I don’t have professional experience as a librarian with which to address these concerns. My role in this assignment is to take the concerns of my interviewee, conduct a literature review, and recommend resources and suggestions based on that literature review. The person I was interviewing had multiple decades of experience. She has been mentoring for most of that time. I am under no illusion that I would be able to offer her anything she hasn’t already considered, and probably tried, during that time. We both understand that isn’t the main benefit of the exercise, and we’re both okay with that.
We had a little time left at the end of our conversation, so I perhaps selfishly decided to ask for a tiny bit of mentoring myself. I asked:
I’m a non-speaking autistic. I am finding my way through the MLIS program alright, with the classes being online and asynchronous (communication with classmates is text-based). But discussing your library and the roles within it over the last two days has left me wondering if there is a place in a library for someone who can’t engage with students and faculty and patrons verbally. Do you think there are roles within librarianship that I might be a good fit for?
She responded that there were many areas of library work that lend themselves to limited interaction, such as collection development and digitization. Areas like chat reference might be a particularly good fit for me. And online instructional design, something I’ve already been interested in and worked on, whether through OER or LibGuides or other asynchronous learning content. While I don’t want to feel limited in the ways that I can contribute despite being disabled, this felt good to me. It made it clear that if I want to play to my strengths, I can. I don’t have to pick a path that’s more difficult for me in order to have a place in this profession. It was a nice note to end our discussion on. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from a mentor, and I hope that I have the ability to pay that forward in the future.