A Mentor – from an Inspirer to a Friend: Librarian Mentoring Programs in Croatia

Abstract

This paper discusses mentoring programs in Croatian libraries. The Croatian librarian community is very structured and well organized, and for many years library professionals and academic staff from I-schools have been aware of the importance of mentorship.

First, the author will give an overview of relevant literature and make a systematic overview of mentoring models in librarian communities worldwide. It is important to emphasize that the models differ according to different criteria: formal/informal, short-term/long-term, individual/group mentoring, etc.

There are several formal mentoring models in the Croatian librarian community: (1) mentoring volunteers in libraries, (2) mentoring student workers, (3) different student mentoring programs in organization of three Croatian LIS schools, and (4) mentoring interns hired through the national employment measures. Also, the librarians who pursue the LIS PhD degree are being mentored by a professor, but the professor does not necessarily have to be a librarian and the mentoring does not have to take place in libraries, but needs to be in the academic setting.

The results of this research suggest that the Croatian library community is aware of the importance of mentoring volunteers, students, and interns, but there remains a large space for the development of the mentoring models that provide professional development opportunities for library professionals such as learning groups, peer-mentoring or co-mentoring programs, etc.