Mentor and mentee applications  are now being accepted for participants in a formal mentoring program to be launched by LAMA’s Mentoring Committee at the ALA annual meeting in Anaheim.  There will be a kickoff event on June 28, 2008, from noon until 2 p.m., which includes a reception for the participants to meet one another and a training session.

The 10-month formal mentoring program is designed to encourage and nurture current and future leaders and to develop and promote outstanding leadership and management practices.  The focus content of the program is two-fold:  mentee and mentor. Mentee content involves career planning, job assistance, shaping careers, and succession planning.  Mentor content involves training and guidance. The committee has designed the process with an eye on sustainability, legacy, realism, structure, expectations, and an emphasis on professional development.  As such, data collection and evaluative instruments have been developed.

Mentee participants in this pilot program will consist of LAMA members who are either currently active or members who have just joined.  Candidates willing to participate are expected to either nominate themselves or be willing to be nominated.  For the first pilot year, mentee candidates will be limited to the first 25 that apply, and their mentors will volunteer or be chosen by a mentee. It is critical that the mentor candidates are active members within LAMA. Both parties are requested to submit biographical and career information that will help assist in the matching process.  Members of these duos either have the option of self matching or the option of using LAMA Mentoring Committee’s expertise to assist with the selection process.  The duos will meet at the reception set to launch the mentoring program. Eventual consideration will be given to the construction and maintenance of a mentor profile database as well as the possible exploration of creating a distance mentorship program.

Applications for mentee and mentor candidates are being accepted through March 3, 2008, and can be accessed online by clicking here. 
 
For additional information, please contact Janine Golden, chair of the Mentoring Committee, at jgolden13@verizon.net.