Mentors
Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute
Mentor hall of fame
Congratulations to the 15 inductees into the Sunshine State Library Leadership Mentor Hall of Fame.
To be inducted, you must have mentored at least four SSLLI participants.
- Paul Alford
- Adam Brooks
- Lucinda Colee
- Gene Coppola
- Terri Crawford
- Elizabeth Curry
- Carole Fiore
- Phyllis Gorshe
- Gretchen Mitchell
- Charlie Parker
- Stephanie Race
- Mindy Simon
- Jeannette Smithee
- Heather Sostrom
- Barbara Stites
We thank our mentors for their commitment to their mentees and the Institute, as well as their willingness to develop emerging and existing library leaders across Florida.
Learn about the benefits of being a mentor in this video (1:05).
Mentoring process
The Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute includes a formal, organized mentoring program. All participants are required to choose a career mentor.
A mentor may include someone in the library field - or not. The primary responsibility of the mentor is to assist the mentee in setting leadership career goals and mastering the competencies necessary to achieve them.
Your mentor should not be your direct line supervisor, nor work in the same building.
Mentors
If you are interested in becoming a Sunshine State Library Leadership mentor, it is important that you:
- Only assume the role if you want to be a mentor and are willing to make the necessary time available.
- Conduct regularly scheduled discussions either online, by phone, or face to face (a minimum of once per month) with your mentee.
- Work with your mentee to design, implement and evaluate a library leadership project.
- Commit to a minimum of 10 months (October through July) of giving encouragement, inspiration, advice and corrective feedback; provide introductions to people who can help your mentee; and provide opportunities for your mentee to develop their leadership skills.
- Attend the first day of the Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute in October and attend your mentee's graduation in July.
As a mentor, you will:
- Receive training at the first Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute session.
- Receive ongoing mentor role support from the Institute Coordinator at the State Library and Archives.
- Use electronic resources such as Institute wikis and listserv to share information and build professional networks.
- Have an opportunity to make a difference - relative to leadership development within Florida libraries.
- Receive recognition from colleagues, peers, and managers for active participation and leadership talent management support.
- Acquire new knowledge and skills from the mentee.
Mentor criteria
- Past or current director, assistant director, branch manager or comparable position within an organization, agency or business for five or more years.
- Past or current member of a local, state, or national board, task force, or committee.
- Experience working with city or county commissioners; state legislators; university deans, provosts, or presidents; or other high level decision makers.
- Have served as an SSLLI mentor four times or less.
Mentor interest form
Sunshine State Library Leadership Institute mentors work one-on-one with their mentees to identify their professional development goals; provide guidance on the design, implementation and evaluation of a library leadership project; and master the Institute's leadership competencies.
If you are interested in serving as a mentor, please complete the SSLLI Mentor Interest Form.
Contact us
If you have any questions or comments, please submit those to our staff at DOS.SSLLI@dos.myflorida.com.
