I’m running a little behind with these posts again-oops! However, I think I should be able to answer the next few things pretty quickly to catch up (famous last words!)
The only official mentor I’ve had was for my chartership when the Yorkshire and Humberside representative organised a meeting of prospective candidates and later sent us examples of other submissions. However, once I moved down to London I just continued under my own steam (admittedly a lot slower than if I’d had a set programme to follow!)
I’m very lucky because I’ve always had really supportive bosses. The main reason that I finished my chartership at all was because my boss in Wandsworth kept putting it as a target for my annual appraisal. She was also always enthusiastic and interested in my career. Also in Wandsworth, I was really lucky to work alongside Ferelith Horden who is a children’s librarian extraordinaire and a real inspiration (ignore the fact that I’m no longer a children’s librarian!)
Maybe it is because I have always worked alongside brilliant colleagues but I have never needed a formal mentoring programme. People work in different ways and I think it is good that there is this scheme out there if people need it. I just haven’t!
However, if anyone would like me to check over their chartership or any other library related materials, I’m more than happy to.
I suppose I should be getting excited about the Olympics now. I’m not really but let’s pretend while looking at a picture of Stratford Library!
