PACSCL Shifts from a Mentorship Structure to Peer-to-Peer Support Groups
Rationale
PACSCL successfully completed a year of its Mentoring Program in 2026. As the program wound down, mentors were surveyed, as was the general membership at the Annual General Meeting in May 2026.
The results of both were assessed by PACSCL’s Nominations & Governance Committee, which took to heart comments made regarding challenges in meeting monthly, as well as the burdens placed on volunteer mentors. The Committee recognized that enough circles functioned best as communities of practice or peer mentoring groups, where participants learn from one another as equals, rather than in a traditional mentor-expert/mentee model.
That model is being adapted for a new Peer-to-Peer Support Group model, registration for which opens in October 2026, with groups encouraged to begin scheduling quarterly meetings in January 2027.
Participation in the P2P support group is a benefit of PACSCL membership, and will be open to staff at PACSCL member institutions.
Peer-to-Peer Groups
The Nominations & Governance Committee agreed to continue the use of the designations used in the mentorship initiative for the peer-to-peer groups to ensure sufficient representation across the needs and interests of the larger special collections community, including:
- Early career professionals
- Working with digital collections/born-digital materials
- University professionals
- Museum professionals
- STEM professionals
- Small shop professionals
- BIPOC professionals
- 2SLGBTQIA+ professionals
- Student/aspiring GLAM professionals
- Mid-career professionals
Your Commitment
Groups will be self-governing. Each group will need to appoint on a monthly or annual basis a member or members who will maintain contact lists and schedules meetings.
Groups will meet for 1 hour a quarter, or as frequently as desired by the members of the groups. Groups can meet virtually or in person if there is enough interest.
Group meetings will begin in January 2027 and will run through the end of that year.
Any questions: director@pacscl.org