My name is Chantra and I am a mentee of the APALA mentorship program. During the start of the pandemic, I found myself re-evaluating and reflecting on my life and my goals. I have worked in the public library as a high school volunteer, then as a library aide, realizing that I have a love for working in the public library. Upon that discovery, I decided to attend the MLIS program at San Jose State University. Not only was I the first to graduate with a bachelor’s degree, but I will also be the first to earn a master’s degree in my family. Starting graduate school while telecommuting and working on-site seemed challenging, especially navigating change. I was unsure if it was beneficial to seek mentorship outside of my workplace and nowhere near my area. I applied for this mentorship with the initial thought that I needed to find a mentor that can give me a fresh perspective without feeling any conflict of interest, who works in a similar setting to mine, and understands the experience of being Southeast Asian or Cambodian American.
Thanks to my mentor, Suzanne, who took the time to connect with me, I find that the mentorship is a very meaningful experience if I choose it to be. Biweekly on Thursdays, we would meet via Zoom. Suzanne would guide me in breathing life to both my short-term and long-term goals. She helped me analyze the challenges and experiences I had shared. Suzanne encouraged me to attend events and trainings that were relevant to things I am concerned about. She tapped into her network and connected me with other Cambodian American librarians who shared their experiences working in the public library setting and working with Cambodian communities. Suzanne walked me through many scholarship applications, one of which is the ALA Spectrum Scholarship. I am truly grateful to have seen this mentorship through. I am also happy to say that we are taking this mentorship beyond the end of the APALA mentorship program.
Bio: Chantra Tham is a Library Aide at Oakland Public Library, Asian Branch, which is in the heart of Oakland Chinatown. She is pursuing her MLIS degree at San Jose State University and hopes to become a children’s or YA librarian at a public library. Chantra is a 2021 recipient of the Friends of the Oakland Public Library Scholarship and a recipient of the Spectrum Scholarship for 2021-2022. She is a current member of the Oakland Public Library Usability Group working to address how patrons utilize the library’s resources. She wanted to help address the digital literacy gap in the Oakland community and volunteered to help design a visual poster on how to place items on hold. She is a boba tea enthusiast and loves hamsters.
At the encouragement of Tamiko Welch, my colleague at the Los Angeles Public Library who had participated in the APALA mentorship program the year prior, I decided to serve as an APALA mentor in late summer 2020. Although I have been on both the giving and receiving end of informal mentorship during my professional career, this was my first time participating in a formal program as a mentor. I was not completely sure what to expect, and even questioned what I had to offer (imposter syndrome, anyone?). We were in the thick of the pandemic and revolutionary social unrest then, and I was finding my footing as a new “accidental” manager. Little did I know that I would learn as much from my protégé as she would from me.
I was astonished when I received notification that I had been matched up with a Cambodian American library school student. I don’t even need one whole hand to count the number of Cambodian American librarians I knew of in the U.S. What were the chances that this year, unbeknownst to each other, Chantra and I decided we wanted to sign up for the same program?! This experience reinforced to me how important it is to see and be supported by other people who look like you in professional circles. We didn’t have to explain to each other what it was like to grow up as part of a minority group that is all too often conflated with CJK, as children of refugees with little resources, or the impacts of intergenerational trauma. We simply understood through our lived experience, and could relate on how these experiences inform our perspectives and work. No doubt we need support from people who are different from us, but communing with people with shared marginalized identities lessens the feelings of isolation that come with said territory.
To be honest, when I started this program as a mentor I mistakenly assumed I had to be the “expert” spouting sage advice. Once I let go of this and actually started listening more, Chantra and I really clicked and I began to learn from her experiences, such as her lessons outreaching to the Khmer community in Oakland. Chantra and I conversed on important issues facing library professionals and the communities we serve today: racial equity in libraries, policing in libraries, hate against Asians and Pacific Islanders, the paraprofessional-librarian divide, and more. I enjoyed getting to know Chantra on a more personal level too – if you ever want to buy her a drink, she likes a good steeped milk tea or fresh fruit blended boba! Statement writing for scholarships was one of the SMART goals that Chantra set, which I had the honor to assist with. I was so proud to learn weeks later that she was awarded the Spectrum Scholarship for this upcoming year!
I am grateful for Alvina Lai, Chair of the APALA mentoring committee, for the structure and guidance they provided throughout this past year as I developed my relationship with Chantra. In true librarian form, Alvina shared thoughtfully compiled resources that would facilitate conversation or action items that we could work on. It has been a wonderfully rewarding experience befriending Chantra and talking through her goals and aspirations as a fellow Cambodian American and future librarian.
For those of you who are on the fence about serving as a mentor, do it! You will realize just how much experience you actually have, and witnessing your protégé’s librarianship journey will remind you why you joined the profession in the first place.
Bio: Suzanne Im (MLIS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011) is Acting Senior Librarian for the Digitization and Special Collections department at Los Angeles Public Library. Her job is to ensure that staff, training, resources, and processes are in place to provide reference, cataloging, and metadata services for Special Collections material, as well as prioritizing items for digitization projects. She established the Memory Lab programs at LAPL, which aim to bring personal archiving and digital preservation tools and skills to community members. Suzanne is also a 2021-2023 Andrew W. Mellon Fellow for Diversity, Inclusion & Cultural Heritage with the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia. She enjoys playing board games, hiking new trails, sifting through thrift stores, and gardening.