Mutually Beneficial Mentoring for Mental Wellness and Personal Growth

The Hesburgh Libraries at the University of Notre Dame has implemented a lightweight mentorship program that provides a structure for recently hired employees to learn about the organization, to provide advice that considers the institutional context, and to elucidate the roles and responsibilities of library faculty. In the fall of 2012, the Hesburgh Libraries hired a Metadata and Digital Collections Librarian and the Organizational Development Librarian paired him with a senior manager overseeing IT in the Libraries. This chapter endeavors to first ground the readers in the literature related to mentoring, wellbeing, and the intersection of the two concepts. For the remainder of the chapter, the authors will discuss how their work together has matured their perspectives, how their professional relationship has evolved over time and helped them both to practice new skills and learn new approaches together, how the meetings provide a safe space to talk through challenges openly, and offer some tips on how to start a mentoring relationship on one’s own in that context. The authors hope to offer a low threshold means to engage in effective mentoring.