[OYAN] Sharing about our mentors

Fri Jan 12 16:04:14 PST 2024

Great topic Caitlyn!

I'm reaching all the way back to someone that meant a lot to me as teen, and means even more to me as an adult who works with teens. I went to high school in a small and rural town in Idaho (not unlike North Plains). My high school English & Creative Writing teacher, Mike Brown has been a mentor for me and is one of the reasons I landed in librarianship and teen librarianship!

We had a required Reading class in 9th or 10th grade and to start out each and every class he channeled Fred Rogers, changed his shoes, put on a cardigan and sang "Won't You Be My Neighbor" and read out loud to the class. He handpicked books for me from his classroom library and broadened my world view.

My friend group spent lunch periods in his classroom for 3 years and he let us interrupt his break time to talk with us, share his copies of The Onion (in print!), and to challenge our thinking and call us out when we needed to be called out. He always treated us like equals and adults and saw us as individuals. He gave me my first D on an assignment and pushed me to take Creative Writing and pursue attending a Creative Writing camp my junior year. (Something I would not have done without his encouragement as a painfully shy teenager.)

I'm so thankful to him and the MANY other librarians and colleagues who have mentored me!

Brianna Sowinski (she/her/they)

Librarian

North Plains Public Library

City of North Plains

503-647-5051

https://www.northplains.org/library

A proud member library of Washington County Cooperative Library Services<https://www.wccls.org/>

Follow me in the library catalog: NorthPlains_BriannaS<https://wccls.bibliocommons.com/user_profile/me>

My work week is Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday

[cid:513525ad-1314-40a3-9800-e027cb02b262]

________________________________
From: OYAN <oyan-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> on behalf of MCMAHAN Caitlin A via OYAN <oyan at omls.oregon.gov>
Sent: Friday, January 12, 2024 3:33 PM
To: oyan at omls.oregon.gov <oyan at omls.oregon.gov>
Subject: [OYAN] Sharing about our mentors

Hey OYAN humans!

With the recent call for OYEA! nominations, it got me thinking about all the people who have been mentors in our professional lives.

For this OYAN email topic, I was wondering if folks were willing to share a time where they felt they had a positive mentoring experience. This can be from your time working in libraries, or from other pivotal moments in your life outside of library land. Feel free to keep a level of anonymity if that makes you feel more comfortable when it comes to sharing names and locations, or name drop all the humans! I’d love to hear about some of the wonderful folks who have had a positive impact on your life!

For me, I think one of the most impactful interactions I’ve had with folks I admire in the library world is when I was encouraged to ask questions. Last year, when I stepped into the role of OYAN Chair, I asked Sonja Somerville and Mark Richardson about one million questions. I had never served as part of OLA division leadership before and was relatively new to OYAN, so I had not a clue about how anything worked. But Sonja and Mark were always so kind and gracious (and quick to respond to my emails), never making me feel that it was a bad thing to be learning about my new role.

Similarly, when I was new to the Youth Services role, my colleagues that worked in various libraries throughout Lane County were hugely impactful and were amazing about making themselves available if I felt I needed someone to ask questions of or bounce ideas off of. Nick Caum, Taylor Worley, and Alec Chunn are just a few of the wonderful humans who helped me become a more confident Youth Services Librarian just by having conversations with me and being willing to point me towards doorways and opportunities to learn and grow. So, if you’re reading this, thanks y’all!

If you would like to share a story from someone who mentored you, intentionally or not, please do! We’d love to hear about how wonderful these humans are and give them all the gold stars for being awesome!

Best,

Caitlin McMahan (she/her)

Teen Librarian | Eugene Public Library

Unpacking (discussion group) Organizer | Oregon Young Adult Network (OYAN) Outgoing-Chair

eugene-or.gov/library | cmcmahan at eugene-or.gov<mailto:cmcmahan at eugene-or.gov>

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