Benefits to Beta Phi Mu?
I came upon my letter from Simmons inviting me to join Beta Phi Mu (BPM) the other day, which was postmarked in December 2004 (I graduated May 2004).
In reviewing the letter, and the information on the site, I just can’t see any benefits to becoming a member. BPM does offer a continuing education scholarship (along with MA and PhD scholarships, by the way), and has chapters all over, but I’ve never heard of any librarian talking about a BPM membership experience. I don’t want to join an organization that appears to have no real purpose other than resume fodder, or to pay for the membership and chapter support fee without proof that BPM does anything for me.
In terms of networking, I do a lot of that on my own anyway and membership in an organization has never really been a plus for me in that respect. The continuing education scholarship seems neat, but I’m not sure it’s worth the membership for me.
Are there libraries out there that consider BPM membership a plus in terms of hiring (not that this is an issue for me anymore, but I’m curious)? Any librarians out there have BPM experiences — good or bad — to share?
Tags: librarianship
