feb05b.indd


Joseph Fennewald and John Stachacz 

Recruiting
students
to
careers
in


academic
libraries


One chapter’s approach 

One of the crucial issues facing the pro­fession today is finding academic li­
brarians to replace a rapidly graying work­
force. So serious is the matter that ACRL 
recently rated recruitment as one of the 
top seven concerns facing the profession.1

To recruit students to careers in academic 
libraries, the ACRL–Delaware Valley Chap­
ter (ACRL–DVC) developed a mentoring 
program linking students in area library 
schools with librarians in academic institu­
tions. 

Mentoring library students 
The library profession provides a wide 
range of mentoring programs for new col­
leagues, new directors, and new members 
of library organizations, such as ACRL. In 
addition to programs for librarians enter­
ing the field or advancing within it, library 
schools often provide mentoring programs 
to their students that offer opportunities 
to enhance their classroom experience. A 
technical service course may require stu­
dents to find a cataloger, acquisitions librar­
ian, or an information manager to serve as 
a mentor; a library management class may 
require students to seek library administra­
tors as mentors. 

ACRL­DVC envisioned a program that 
would offer students opportunities in addition 
to these class­related experiences. Our goals 
were to provide support and guidance for 
students interested in academic librarianship 
careers, to offer experiences specific to the 
students’ interests, and to share our profes­

sional experience and knowledge. The suc­
cess of the program attests to its need. 

The mentoring program, which began in 
2001, is the ACRL­DVC’s newest outreach 
to library school students. We have always 
offered students reduced membership fees 
and special rates for our programs and work­
shops. Since the mid­1990s, we have awarded 
annual stipends to students interested in aca­
demic librarianship careers. During the past 
three years, ACRL–DVC members have served 
as mentors to 26 library school students at­
tending school or living within the chapter’s 
membership area. 

ACRL­DVC has a large membership area 
from which to recruit mentors and students. 
Although our membership is concentrated in 
the Philadelphia area, the chapter stretches 
west to the center of Pennsylvania and south­
east to include all of Delaware. 

Reaching the students 
For the mentor program, the chapter tar­
geted the library schools at Clarion Uni­
versity of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, 
and Rutgers University, and the students in 
the chapter’s membership area enrolled in 
the University of Pittsburgh’s online pro­
gram. We supplied the deans and admin­
istrators of these schools with print and 

Joseph Fennewald is head librarian at Penn State-
Hazleton, e-mail: jaf23@psu.edu, and John Stachacz 
is assistant director of research ser vices for the 
Waidner-Spahr Library at Dickinson College, e-mail: 
stachacz@dickinson.edu 
© 2005 Joseph Fennewald and John Stachacz 

C&RL News February 2005  120 

mailto:stachacz@dickinson.edu
mailto:jaf23@psu.edu


electronic flyers to distribute to students 
and post throughout their schools. They 
emphasized that this was an ACRL activ­
ity that would directly connect students 
with a practicing professional librarian. 
The flyers featured our slogan, “When a 
librarian mentors a student, the profession 
benefi ts.” 

Library school students contact the ACRL­
DVC by e­mail and indicate their interests. 
Some want to gain experience working at 
a reference desk or by providing library in­
struction. Others want to learn more about 
work in a specific subject area, such as 
government documents, a humanities col­
lection, or engineering. Alternatively, they 
may simply want counsel from someone 
in the profession on their courses and as­
signments. 

Students can contact us at any stage 
of their education, from entering library 
school to graduation. We have even heard 
from potential library school students who, 
after seeing the flyers during visits to the 
school, asked the contact person to add 
them to the list once they started classes. 
We have also heard from students prepar­
ing for job interviews. Several expressed 
appreciation for the interviewing tips and 
job leads that their mentors provided. One 
student reported that the mentor “gave me 
more confidence in my skills and she was 
also very, very helpful in job interviewing 
tips, and sending out a variety of job ads 
she had seen. … it can be reassuring to 
know that there is someone on your side 
when you are venturing out into a career 
for the fi rst time.” 

Once established, the mentoring relation­
ship may extend beyond the student’s gradu­
ation. “We continued to communicate after 
his graduation from Drexel and, while he was 
seeking a professional librarian’s position, I 
[the mentor] was there to urge him not to 
be disappointed when he was not hired and 
was able to steer him to a job he eventually 
landed.” 

Students enrolled in online programs have 
found it particularly helpful to discuss library 

assignments with a mentor. One such student, 
with limited library experience, wrote that 
the mentor “can give a lot of feedback and 
advice about what it is really like out there 
in the field, which can differ greatly from 
some of the theorizing we do in ‘class.’ Be­
ing able to call upon a librarian for advice 
and feedback is especially vital for library 
students who have never worked in the fi eld, 
or for those, such as myself, who are taking 
courses through distance education and may 
feel isolated.” 

Making it work 
Administering this program is simple. 
Through our newsletter and e­mail list, 
we ask for volunteers to serve as men­
tors. The membership has enthusiastically 
embraced this project, and we often have 
more mentors than students. If we are un­
able to make a good match from those 
who volunteered, we contact other librar­
ians. When this has happened, we have 
always found librarians willing to serve. 
(This has had an added benefit for the 
chapter. We require all mentors to be cur­
rent chapter members and have been able 
to recruit several librarians to the chap­
ter.) 

Although it is not viewed as essential, we 
attempt to match the student with a librarian 
in the same geographical area. Once they 
have been introduced, usually through a 
series of e­mail messages, the mentor and 
mentee determine how best to communi­
cate. E­mail is used frequently, but it is often 
followed up with phone conversations and 
personal visits. In addition to visits to the 
mentors’ libraries, mentees and mentors 
have met at restaurants, coffee shops, and 
conferences. The mentee and mentor de­
cide the frequency of their meetings. One 
mentor explained, “During the year, we 
corresponded by telephone and e­mail, and 
I arranged for us to meet in­person for the 
first time at the 2003 ALA Midwinter Meeting 
in Philadelphia, which was interesting and 
dynamic for someone attending their fi rst 
ALA conference.” 

February 2005  121 C&RL News 



The role of the mentor 
The mentor will advise and inform, but 
more importantly, will listen. One men­
tor commented, “The mentor should get 
to know the student by asking questions 
and listening to his answers. What are the 
students’ expectations of this profession? 
What are his special interests and exper­
tise? Does he want to be a public services 
or technical services person?” As the men­
tor comes to know the student, he or she 
can determine how they can best meet the 
student’s needs. As another mentor wrote, 
“Matching two people, both interested in 
the profession, one already in the fi eld and 
one planning to go into the field, is a good 
way to develop a relationship that can be 
beneficial to both.” 

The program has benefited the mentors as 
well as the mentees. “The professional gains 
insight from the student’s questions, fears, 
anticipations, etc., and the student derives 
comfort from knowing that what he is expe­
riencing is not unique to him alone.” 

One mentor wrote, “The mentor gains so 
much more than they give. It is so invigo­
rating to be involved with a current library 
science graduate student. It is worthwhile 
(and fun) to learn the latest curriculum offer­
ings in graduate school programs. It is also 
personally rewarding to pass along advice 
and information that the mentor has learned 
working in the field to a protégé. It helps the 
mentor gain some perspective on [his or her] 
career and a sense of satisfaction that one 
has accomplished some goals, even if not 
everything one dreamed of, when beginning 
a career in librarianship.” 

In addition to the personal rewards the 
mentors may experience, the program has 
provided other unexpected benefits. “I have 
asked [my mentee] for help when we went 
to hire for a temporary, part­time position. 
With her graduate school connections, she 
spoke with fellow students who then sent 
their résumés to me.” 

Looking to the future 
ACRL­DVC plans to maintain the program’s 

informal structure. We believe it meets the 
diverse needs of library school students 
and allows the student and mentor to es­
tablish a means of communication that best 
meets their needs. We continue to look for 
ways to promote the program, especially to 
students in our membership area involved 
in online programs outside our member­
ship area. We are planning to sponsor a 
luncheon for the mentors to provide them 
with an opportunity to talk about their ex­
perience with one another. It also provides 
ACRL­DVC with an opportunity to express 
our appreciation for their willingness to 
serve as mentors. 

The mentoring program has been a 
success. The initial student response was 
tremendous. A student at Drexel University, 
for example, wrote “to communicate with 
someone who occupies a position you’d 
like in the future, and learn that they had 
similar experiences and opinions about li­
brary school and the profession, has been 
an invaluable experience. I feel that I have a 
better idea about how to proceed profession­
ally, and with greater confi dence.” 

Not only have we received positive com­
ments from the students and their mentors, 
but mentees are now beginning to refer new 
students to the program. “I would emphati­
cally encourage them to take advantage of 
the opportunity. I think it is a very valuable 
experience where a student can get a good 
look at what it is like to work in the library 
world, especially if the student is planning 
to enter into a type of library that they are 
unfamiliar with.” What better indicator of 
success than having students promote the 
program to their fellows?2 

Notes 
1. W. Lee Hisle, “Top issues facing 

academic libraries,” C&RL News, 63, no. 10 
(2002): 714. 

2. Further information about the mentor­
ing program is available by contacting the au­
thors. Students living in the membership area 
can learn more about the program by visiting 
our Web site at www.acrldvc.org. 

C&RL News February 2005  122 

http:www.acrldvc.org