Peer Mentoring – A Matter of Trust
2025 (Swedish)In: 54th LIBER Annual Conference, Lausanne, 2025, p. 53-54Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Other (popular science, discussion, etc.))
Abstract [en]
A dynamic work life requires constant development and reflection on one’s practice. This paper outlines a peer-mentoring program at Malmö University Library. Librarians were offered an opportunity for in-depth reflection and development in their profession alongside a colleague from another university library. The idea is that the meetings should have low thresholds and be of informal character. Mentorship is something that often is reserved for management positions. Accordingly, it involves a hierarchy between the mentor and mentee, aimed at knowledge transfer from a senior to a junior colleague. In peer mentoring, the goal is knowledge exchange among individuals with similar and equal positions. Partnerships can be reciprocal or complementary, but always at the same level. In literature peer mentoring is often found in an educational context and for professional training (McManus, S. E., & Russell, J. E., 2007). However, we found a few examples of peer mentoring in academic libraries and primarily from a North American context (Bruxvoort, D., 2013; Freedman S., 2009; Goosney, J. L., Smith, B., & Gordon, S., 2014). We started by identifying appropriate interested partners through our contacts in the Liber network. Employees could either apply or be encouraged by department managers to participate based on performance appraisals. A prerequisite for success is getting a good match at both the institutional and individual levels (Bruxvoort D, 2013). This requires an important dialogue with the managers of the partner libraries. Since 2023, seventeen pairs have initiated their peer mentorships, with two-thirds based in Sweden and one-third abroad. The program offers a framework, and at the same time has a simple and adaptable structure that can be shaped by the participants’ own ideas. The framework consists of a form of contract where expectations and conditions are clarified and is aimed at establishing a common understanding for the peer mentoring process. The trial period was 6 months long. None of the couples ended their collaboration beforehand and several of them continued after the first period. From a survey, we have found that those who have a larger overlap of the same content in their roles have experienced greater satisfaction. Still, all of the participants appreciated the freedom to explore how the mentoring process could evolve. It was also clear that the librarians felt that the program gave them new knowledge and was in fact a new way of professional training. One participant stated “[t]his has been the most effective way for me to develop my skills in my professional life so far.”. Trust is a crucial factor for the success of the program. It is essential to establish trust when meeting new colleagues and for managers to adopt a trustbased leadership approach without expecting a specific outcome. The peer mentoring program will now be one of the permanent selections of in-service training at Malmö University Library and we invite more Liber partners to join us.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Lausanne, 2025. p. 53-54
Keywords [en]
peer-mentoring, up-skilling, libraries
Keywords [sv]
kollegialt mentorskap, bibliotek
National Category
Information Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-83510OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mau-83510DiVA, id: diva2:2050638
Conference
LIBER 2025 Lausanne 2-4 juli
2026-04-022026-04-022026-04-07Bibliographically approved