Academic libraries have long been called the heart of their campuses. As priorities have shifted away from print collections and other repository services, college libraries have expanded their services to be welcoming spaces that support students' sense of belonging and meet a wide range of needs. This is perhaps especially true of community…

Supported by institutional commitments to community engagement, undergraduate students at universities across North America are participating in community-based research projects. These experiential learning activities allow students to collaborate with community partners to address issues in their communities, often resulting in co-creating…

This study aims to discover the current value and role of the contemporary community college library for community college executives. This dissertation informs librarians about how libraries will be able to thrive on the contemporary community college campus. The study draws on the literature and utilizes a mixed methods study approach to develop…

Open educational resources (OER) provide college students with course materials on the first day of class, ensuring an equitable learning experience for all. The concept of OER has been around for almost 20 years, yet many faculty and librarians are just now becoming aware as more and more statewide initiatives are introduced. The adoption of OER…

There is little literature on what community college library deans must do to transform the community college library into an integral part of modern community colleges. Using a qualitative approach, this study examines the roles and responsibilities of an effective leader in a community college library. Semi-structured interviews with six Texas…

Caring for others is integral to what makes us human. We have all experienced the care of others that has helped us to survive and thrive, and in turn, others rely on us for care. A pedagogy of care, based on a feminist ethics of care, recognizes the centrality of care in our lives and thus its relevance for education. This pedagogy encourages…

Reference services in academic libraries often focus on user education and giving students the skills to perform their own searches. This article describes a new Research Concierge Service established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by Ozarks Technical Community College (OTC) in southwest Missouri. The service entails library staff curating a…

Librarians continually seek innovative ways to integrate library expertise and resources into campus research endeavors. Although qualitative research has grown across disciplines, researchers using these methods often receive little campus-based support. The authors investigate this shortfall in support of qualitative researchers through…

Teaching is a core role for librarians in academic contexts, although most librarians are not formally prepared to teach and encounter significant challenges in the role, including complex relationships with campus colleagues. The purpose of this research was to explore how community college librarians, an understudied population, understand their…

Community college libraries provide retention support for students navigating through their coursework. This research consists of interviews with 10 out of 18 library directors in New Jersey. This study takes a sizable positive step in determining how an academic library supports retention since a library director is uniquely qualified and able to…

Over the past three years, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)-funded Community College Academic and Student Support Ecosystem (CCASSE) initiative has aimed to provide the higher education community with insight into the organization of student-facing support services and how the library can best position itself to enhance student…

While working at a fast paced reference desk at a busy community college, a librarian may encounter many challenging questions and situations. One such problem that may exist on a community college level is that of the very needy student, who not only has issues with information literacy, but with reading competency and computer literacy. The…

Using cross-institutional survey data from 407 first-year college students, differences in information literacy preparation and academic library experiences between community college students and students at four-year institutions are examined. Results show that first-year community college students are more likely to be novice library users,…

In recent years, the opportunities for academic libraries to engage as a partner in digital initiatives in academia have expanded significantly. The traditional focus on digitization, preservation, and dissemination of collections has developed and shifted considerably, bringing new strategies for adequately serving the changed academic needs, as…

High school students' transition to college-level research is often discussed among school library and media specialists and academic librarians. The authors conducted a survey to gather data about the academic library's role in the adjustment to college, with the intention to identify compelling or recurring themes and share the results in…