Each January associations across America join forces in support of National Job Shadow Day. PLA, along with ALA divisions for school and academic libraries (AASL and ACRL) encourage librarians to participate too! Job Shadow Day, is in its sixth year and each year gives students across America the chance to "shadow" a workplace mentor as he or she goes through a day on the job. Young people nationwide will get an up-close look at how skills learned in school are put to use in the workplace. School, academic and public librarians will receive information and support from the three divisions to participate in the program as part of recruitment efforts association-wide. It is anticipated that more than one million students and 100,000 businesses will participate in Job Shadowing 2004.
PLA has developed materials and information to help public libraries plan their own job shadow day experience. Many public libraries have already successfully participated! Read a few of their stories.
By participating in the job shadow day program, PLA hopes public librarians will:
Use the notebook to help you plan your JSD event. Print copies of the notebook are available free from PLA. Email: bmacikas@ala.org and provide quantity and mailing address information.
Q. What is Job Shadow Day?
National Job Shadow Day is a nationwide effort to introduce young people to the world of work by giving them an up-close look at the workplace. Groundhog Job Shadow Day, now in its seventh year, will be held on February 2, 2004. This will be the national kickoff to a year-long initiative that gives students across America the chance to "shadow" a workplace mentor as he or she goes through a day on the job. This provides young people nationwide with an up-close look at how skills learned in school are put to use in the workplace. More than one million students and 100,000 businesses will participate in Job Shadowing 2004.
Q. Why was Groundhog Job Shadow Day started?
Many middle school and high school kids previously didn't have the opportunity to explore various career options first hand by visiting a workplace. In 1996, the first local Job Shadow Day was conducted in Boston. In 1997, the National Job Shadow Coalition was formed to encourage participation in a shadowing initiative across the United States. The goal was to help young people explore firsthand the skills and education needed to succeed in today's and future job markets, and to encourage the development of relationships between students and caring adults. Given the current economy, students need these valuable experiences more than ever.
Q. Why February 2nd?
Monday, February 2 is the national launch. What matters most is to choose a day that is convenient for students, teachers, and workplace mentors. Feel free to choose the date that works best. Remember, February 2 is just the kick-off to a yearlong Job Shadowing initiative.
Q. How is it different from other career education initiatives?
Groundhog Job Shadow Day gives kids a chance to explore various careers beyond what their parents may do for a living. Job shadowing also provides an opportunity for students in at-risk situations to be exposed to various career options they otherwise might not have the chance to explore.
Q. Does Job Shadowing make a difference?
A recent survey released by Junior Achievement (JA) indicates that American middle and high school students have unrealistic views of their future careers. Job shadowing is increasingly important for students because it acquaints them with the world of work through on-the-job experiences and a carefully crafted school curriculum that ties academics to the workplace throughout the year. In fact, according to the poll, one-third of students learned about career choices from job shadowing. (Check out the Job Shadow Coalition news release on the JA "Kids and Career" survey.)
Becoming involved in Job Shadow Day will only take a few hours of your time. If you are a library director, encourage your staff to become mentors, provide support to the effort, and publicize the initiative at your institution and beyond. If you are a library coordinator (the individual who oversees the logistics of your institution's shadow day), work with schools to identify interested young people, provide your library's staff with descriptions of participating students, develop an agenda for the day, and prepare a brief report and submit it to PLA upon completion of your shadow day. If you are a library mentor, review materials and make plans in preparation for the day, set aside part of your day to interact with your shadow, demonstrate and explain effective work methods, and help your shadow understand the skills and academics needed for the profession of librarianship.
Let us hear from you! A Job Shadow Planning Kit will be available from this web page soon. Questions about Job Shadow Day? E-mail bmacikas@ala.org