<div dir="ltr"><p style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Colleagues,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">

<span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The OLA Mentoring Program is </span><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">designed to help early career librarians grow professionally by being paired with seasoned librarians willing to share their professional experience and guidance. Mentors and mentees will be partnered based on similar interests, professional experience, and/or goals. The mentoring relationship will develop over the course of a year and contact can take place in-person or over phone, email, or web conferencing.</span><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span></p>

<br><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">If you are an early career librarian with less than five years of professional experience, please consider</span><a href="https://ola.memberclicks.net/index.php?option=com_mc&view=mc&mcid=form_140871" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(34,34,34);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> </span><span style="font-family:Arial;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">applying to be paired up with a mentor</span></a><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">. Our current roster of available mentors come from academic, public, and special libraries.</span></p>

<br><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Our academic librarian mentors are located in the Portland Metro area, Wilsonville, and Klamath Falls. They have expertise in diverse areas such as Leadership, Management, Planning, Reference/Instruction, Writing/public speaking, Adult Services, Library Technologies Job Transition, and Community Assessment and Involvement. They have had very diverse experiences in librarianship and work in different kinds of academic libraries.</span></p>

<br><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Our public librarian mentors are located in the Portland Metro area, Hillsboro, La Grande, Albany, and Roseburg. They have expertise in the following area: Leadership, Management, Supervision of Staff @ Remote Locations, Planning, Marketing/Outreach, Community Assessment and Involvement, Adult Services, Library Technologies, Service to Remote/Rural Libraries, Reference/Instruction, Technical Services, Writing/public speaking, OLA involvement, and Job Transition. Their places of work range from large library systems to small, rural libraries and their experiences in libraries are extremely diverse. </span></p>

<br><span style="background-color:transparent;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We also have a data scientist mentor for those of you interested in the information science part of our field.</span><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span></p>

<br><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Even if your interests and goals aren’t a match for our current crop of mentors, feel free to apply and you’ll be near the top of the list as mentors who are a match become available. </span></p>

<br><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">To become a mentee, you must meet </span><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">ALL</span><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"> of the following requirements:</span></p>

<br><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">1. Be an OLA Member.</span></p>

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">2. Hold an MLIS or equivalent (MSIS, MLS, school library teaching license, etc.) AND/or have been in a professional library position(s) for fewer than five years</span></p>

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">3. Currently be working in a library in some capacity (volunteer, paraprofessional, professional).</span></p>

<br><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">We will pair mentors and mentees based on the order in which mentee applications are received and the availability of mentors to match a mentee's specific goals. Matches between mentors and mentees will be made on a rolling basis, so if you are not paired with a mentor immediately, we will pair you when a mentor who is a good match becomes available.</span></p>

<br><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Additional links:</span></p>

<ul style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;margin-left:15px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://ola.memberclicks.net/index.php?option=com_mc&view=mc&mcid=form_140871" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Mentee application</span></a></p>

</li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;margin-left:15px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="http://www.olaweb.org/mentor-program" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Information about the mentoring program and its requirements</span></a></p>

</li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;margin-left:15px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="http://www.olaweb.org/mentoring-guidelines" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Guidelines and best practices for being a mentor</span></a></p>

</li></ul><br><a href="http://www.olaweb.org/mentoring-guidelines" style="text-decoration:none"><span style="font-family:Arial;text-decoration:underline;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span></a><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">

<span style="font-family:Arial;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Have questions? Contact us at </span><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><a href="mailto:mentor@olaweb.org">mentor@olaweb.org</a></span></p>

<br><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(17,85,204);vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Meredith Farkas, Portland State University Library</span></p>

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Lisa Molinelli, Portland State University</span></p>

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.15;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Emily Papagni, Multnomah County Library</span></p>

<div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">For the OLA Membership Committee</span></div>


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