The Role of Mentorship in Shapign Public Library Leaders

THISSTUDY FOCUSES on the role that mentorship plays in the career development of twenty-eight directors of major public libraries. The findings revealed that sixteen of the directors had experienced mentorship. The results also show that mentors were a major factor in sponsoring the directors for major library positions. Finally, the conclusion supports the notion that the context in which public libraries operate provides many opportunities for an individual to cultivate the attention of a potential mentor. INTRODUCTION Mentorship has been the focus of attention in the literature of many occupations and disciplines (Kram & Isabella, 1985; PhillipsJones, 1982; Roche, 1979). Although sparse, the library literature is no exception. In fact, library and information professionals are becoming increasingly interested in the phenomenon of mentorship in an effort to better understand issues of professional development and growth and career advancement. For example, some researchers argue that advancement through the ranks of an organization is heavily influenced by a sponsorship system-e.g., mentoring-and that occupational mobility is routinely enhanced by the intervention of a sponsor (Thompson, 1978). Elfreda A. Chatrnan, The School of Information and Library Science, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, CB #3360, 100 Manning Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3360 LIBRARY TRENDS, Vol. 40, No. 3, Winter 1992, pp. 492-512 @ 1992 The Board of Trustees, University of Illinois CHATMAN/ROLE OF MENTORSHIP 493