132 College & Research Libraries January 2016 Julie Todaro, Mentoring A–Z. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2015. 168p. Paper, $58.00 (ISBN 13: 978-0-8389-1329-1). Written by incoming ALA President Julie Todaro, Mentoring A–Z is a thorough, compre- hensive review of mentoring, mentors, and mentees, as well as how to design, measure, and evaluate a program; it includes appendices that provide a toolkit for creating a successful program anywhere for any profession and uses specific examples for the library profession. Todaro has a successful career leading academic libraries and teach- ing future library professionals. As a consultant, she specializes in management for and organizational development in libraries, change management, 21st-century trends and future studies, staffing issues, customer service, and emergency management. With seven chapters, nine appendices, a bibliography, resources and index, this easy-to-read book provides all of the information one needs to know about mentor- ing. The chapters define mentoring, provide background information on mentorship in the 21st century, describe the value and benefits, design and implementation, and best practices for program measurement and evaluation. Included is the use of “Case Methods,” a 9-step process for breaking down an issue into relevant facts, players, is- sue prioritization, what can wait, what can be done and what can’t be done, potential outcomes and impact, and evaluation. This model works for any issue and will be particularly useful for managers to use. In the description of what a mentor is and does, Todaro provides examples from a variety of sources such as this one: “A great mentor has a knack for making us think we are better than we think we are. They force us to have a good opinion of ourselves, let us know they believe in us. They make us get more out of ourselves, and once we learn how good we really are, we never settle for anything less than our very best.” The Prometheus Foundation Andrew Gibbons Also included is a description of the process of creating a mentorship program that provides opportunities for those involved at all levels to become better oriented and acculturated to an organization, institution, or group; experience roles and responsi- bilities outside typical or expected position roles and responsibilities; and reenergize support through discussions on challenging situations. Along with what a mentor does are descriptions of what a mentor is not or does not do. They do not serve as the mentee’s “guaranteed path to promotion” in the organiza- tion, and great care should be taken to communicate that or—at the very least—the absence of guarantees. Nor do they guarantee the success of the mentee either in their primary position or within the organization. The mentor should not operate as a third party as an alternative way to communicate with a mentee’s supervisor. The book further describes examples of what the mentee is and does including those who are new professionals to an organization; individuals new to the profession; and individuals who have been targeted for future activities. The breadth of mentoring in the 21st century is addressed in chapter 2, where Todaro describes the variety of mentorship programs in associations, higher education, and within corporate settings. The values and benefits of mentoring are described in chapter 3 specifically in response to the question “What specific value does mentoring bring to the table?”— emphasizing that, regardless of whether we can say definitively what the ROI might be, we should definitely say yes to mentoring. In general, values and benefits of men- doi:10.5860/crl.77.1.132 Book Reviews 133 toring include: expanded competencies, professionalism, onboarding, career develop- ment, retention, and knowledge transfer. More specifically, they include experience in specialty programs, support for environments with solo librarians, assistance with general career transition, and opportunities for discussions without involving direct managers or management for discussions on expectations, to bring up sensitive issues, vent, gather perspectives from diverse areas of the organizations, or for touchstones to identify standard practices and deviations from standard practice. There is also expanded self-confidence for all involved in the program and greater success and number in retention of library employees and workers. Chapter 4 gets into the design and implementation of successful programs. Answer- ing questions that include everything from how to begin, what to include, and even touching on virtual/digital and hybrid mentorship programs. Todaro addresses topics like how planning the mentorship program takes place in the organization; and, once the mentorship program is planned, who will implement the initiative. The author also explains what the purpose of the mentorship plan is, who the audience is, how timelines are infused into the plan, and what the best format or means of production is. Education and training needed for everyone involved are defined in chapter 5. Ele- ments of a mentorship curriculum include content, events, diverse modes and methods of communication and orientation. In chapter 6, Todaro addresses common pitfalls of mentorship programs from lack of integration, process, instruction, or training to unrealistic expectations to more specific issues including no formal criteria, ill-suited mentors/mentees, ill-suited match, lack of support, and incorrect program goals. Also included is a list of inappropriate direc- tions or activities such as counseling for personal issues and breach of confidentiality. Best practices for program measurement and evaluation rounds out chapter 7. Under general tips, Todaro asserts that, just as with any program creation, success cannot be determined without proper measurement and evaluation criteria. She provides five suggested program goals and measures, specific to mentorship, that will be incredibly valuable to anyone looking to create a mentorship program. In reviewing the profes- sional literature related to mentorship, Todaro found that participants are more satisfied when everything is structured at the beginning of the process. The eight appendices in the book provide a toolkit of sorts. They address such topics as program planning, job descriptions, goals and outcomes, checklists for planning, cor- respondence letters, application forms, recommendation forms, and evaluation content. The bibliography and resources section includes examples from ALA’s mentoring and recruitment efforts along with other examples of current mentoring programs such as Educause, the Nebraska Library Commission, and Webjunction. Readers will have everything they need to create, implement, measure, evaluate, and model successful mentoring programs.—Marcy Simons, University of Notre Dame Appraisal and Acquisition: Innovative Practices for Archives and Special Collections, ed. Kate Theimer. Landham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. Paper, $55.00 (ISBN 978- 1-4422-3854-1). Appraisal and Acquisition, the latest in Kate Theimer’s Innovative Practices for Archives and Special Collections series, presents a range of case studies that deal with methods and processes of appraisal. In addition to serving as editor for all six of the Innova- tive Practices publications, Theimer maintains the Archives Next blog, a resource well worth exploring for archival professionals. Her background includes six years at the National Archives and Records Administration in the Policy Division, and a teaching position at the Centre for Archive and Information Studies, University of Dundee, Scotland. She currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Cumberland doi:10.5860/crl.77.1.133