1. By Meredith Forrey & Jessica Martinez
Making the Most of Early-Career Librarianship
By Meredith Forrey & Jessica Martinez
Hi! My name is Meredith Forrey, and this is my colleague Jessica Martinez, and we are here to talk to you today about the experience of being an early career librarian. Our talk will hopefully help both early career librarians who feel like they’re floundering and help employers of those early career librarians support them to the best of their ability.

2. Survey Sent out November of 2018 172 responses
147 (85%) of these respondents graduated in 2013 or later
89% of respondents work in an academic library
7% work in a public library
We conducted a survey that got sent out in November of 2018 focused around the experience of early career librarians. We were pleased to get 172 responses, 85% of those respondents graduated in 2013 or later. Given the librarian circles in which we roll, 89% of respondents worked in academic libraries, 7% work in public libraries, with the rest working in a combination of school, special, and other library work.

3. Hands-On Experience in Graduate School
Despite the fact that most of the respondents had some sort of library work experience during graduate school, we found that most of our respondents still felt some sort of fear or feelings of not being able to do the job when they entered into their first capital L librarian position. Many said they felt they gained a lot of good theoretical knowledge in their grad programs, but not a lot of practical experience in the day to day workings of a Librarian.

4. Is there anything your current (or most recent) place of employment does (or did) to prepare librarians to be confident in their work that you think is helpful? Please describe.
Therefore, we asked the very important question of: Is there anything your current place of employment does to prepare librarians to be confident in their work. And we got some great responses!

5. My supervisor does not do any hand-holding; you are fully autonomous and independent from day one. While this did lead to me feeling utterly lost for the first couple of weeks, it also forced me to learn a lot on my own and develop the ability to admit when I don't know something and ask for help. I've become very confident about not being an expert, and I've also become confident that I've done all of this on my own.

6. Not really - I'm actually pretty frustrated with the lack of support at my current university. I definitely feel like I've been tossed in the deep end. When another newer colleague asked about mentors during a recent faculty meeting, my boss told her that we don't need a formal mentoring program - which feels pretty dismissive and isolating.

7. We have a really robust onboarding program that is tailored to each person to help them grow in the areas they need most. We're assigned buddies to help with the more general/social aspect of being new and mentors to help you learn about your job, along with having a supervisor and/or department head to help you with anything you need.

8. They encouraged me to get involved in my state library association so I could network and learn from my peers. This kind of supportive work environment is so important to become confident in one's work.

9. We have a community of practice for instruction librarians, we have a mentorship program, and we shadow someone at the desk when we first begin.

10. I think creating an environment where librarians can openly share their successes and failures is important in building confidence in new librarians.
Overarching themes:
-there are so many quotes about people appreciating having a regular point of contact, or a set meeting with a supervisor
-didn’t get a lot of practical experience in grad school so they need more professional development opportunities as a new librarian
-many feel their workplace does not provide adequate on-boarding )thrown in the deep end)

11. Recommendations for Employers
Structured on-boarding process
Mentorship
Easy Ways to Mentor
Help identify leadership opportunities
Offer suggestions of research topics
Help find professional associations and listservs
Encourage new librarians to build a network of mentors
Talk with new employees about what strengths they bring to the organization and help identify areas for potential growth
So, if you’re an employer, how can you best support your new librarians? Far and away what we heard about most in our survey was the benefit of a structured onboarding process plus mentorship. Having a designated person that new librarians can ask those “stupid” questions of and not feel stupid is huge to making new librarians feel confident and like they know what’s going on.
Recommendations for Employers
Structured on-boarding process
most people we talked to did an internship but was not required for their graduate program
Masters programs are heavy in theory, so new librarians need hands-on training as well as learning the specifics of your organization
Mentorship
Most people in the survey and interviews stated that having a specific person to go with questions was helpful or something they wished they had
Many successful mentorship programs paired new librarians with someone outside their department or even outside the library (on academic settings)
IDEA Easy Ways to Mentor
Help identify leadership opportunities
Offer suggestions of research topics
Help find professional associations and listservs
Encourage new librarians to build a network of mentors
Talk with new employees about what strengths they bring to the organization and help identify areas for potential growth
from Supervisors as Mentors by Laura Evans, CRL News July/August 2019

12. Recommendations for Early Career Librarians
Ask questions
Actively seek out a mentor
Attend a Conference or Webinars
But the new librarians can help themselves feel confident too. Don’t be afraid to ask questions! If a mentor isn’t provided for you, seek one out, either in your organization or through one of the great professional groups offered through ALA. And finally, attend conferences and Webinars so that you can keep learning. If you’re here and a new librarian, then you’re already ahead of the game!
Recommendations for Early Career Librarians
Don’t be afraid to ask questions -- no one will think you’re an idiot
Beginner’s mindset -- you’re perspective may bring something new and valuable to the table
Shadowing-- people will probably say yes if you ask to shadow them
If no mentor is provided, actively seek one out, many associations have programs or find someone you admire to ask
Attend a Conference/Webinars
You’re already here!
Ask your supervisor or a colleague which listservs would be beneficial to be on to see these opportunities

13. Thank you! Meredith 23 seconds
Thank you for your time-- it’s scary to start anything new so it’s important to remember that feeling and help new librarians in your organization feel at home. And new librarians, remember that you’re not alone in feeling this way, and you have entered a profession full of people who like to help. 20 seconds.