Of the many librarian associations in New York City, I have found ACRL/NY to be one of the best. I am very interested in research, and I was dead set on becoming an academic librarian when I was in library school. However, academic librarianship requires much publication, teaching, and vying for tenure. Also, public libraries have such a variety of queries from customers. ACRL/NY gives me a chance to network with academic librarians, and participate in the mentoring program and the symposium committee.

Annual Symposium

ACRL/NY puts on an annual symposium, the next of which is scheduled for December 4, 2015. I love conferences and librarian training events, so I am looking forward to attending next year. The conference also gives me a sense of what is going on in the academic librarian world, since I go to colleges to hand out public library cards. Anyone who is an ACRL/NY member can attend symposium committee meetings and executive board meetings. I have attended a couple of those meetings, and I look forward to more regular attendance in 2015. I find it fascinating to learn all of the logistics that are behind planning a grand training event.

Mentoring Program

The mentoring program run by ACRL/NY is fabulous. I have participated as a mentor since 2012. The program runs for an academic year. It is designed to pair more experienced librarians with novice professionals who are eager to learn more about the field. I generally mentor job seekers since I am not an academic librarian. I enjoy helping my mentees with their resumes, cover letters, interviewing, salary negotiation and general job-searching skills. The applications for mentees and mentors are on the ACRL/NY web site.

I am really glad that ACRL/NY has so many training opportunities for librarians, and the active members are inspiring and they have a variety of skill sets.

• ACRL/NY web site
• ALA
• NYLA
• Books about libraries