Valuing the Community College Library
Impactful Practices for Institutional Success

Terra Jacobson (Edited by), Spencer Brayton (Edited by)

9798892555425

Paperback / softback, published 3 September 2025

300 pages
25.4 x 17.8 x 1.8 cm, 0.454 kg

Sharing the work of our community college libraries—our efforts, stories, and how we’re advancing the institution—and advocating to our peers and administration can boost the libraries’ role on our unique campuses.

Valuing the Community College Library: Impactful Practices for Institutional Success provides a holistic approach to exhibiting community college library value through historical context, practical applications, and future thinking. Through case studies, editorials from administrators, and practical approaches, it addresses why community college libraries exist and should exist, and the nuanced approaches to how library workers situate themselves at their institutions.

Community college libraries need to provide access to content, people, space, and technology and offer instruction, but can also serve as an outreach arm in advancing the mission of open enrollment and affordable access to higher education. Valuing the Community College Library can help you be an advocate for your library on campus and in your community.

Preface
Dr. Terra Jacobson and Spencer Brayton

Introduction
Dr. Terra Jacobson and Spencer Brayton

The Community College Library: A Historical Literature Review
Samantha Minnis

Part 1: Current Issues and Existing Narratives
Chapter 1. Nightbrary: A Noisy Approach to Library Programming, College Outreach, and Student Engagement
Jason Anfinsen and Morgan Tracy

Chapter 2. Community to State College
Andrew Beman-Cavallaro

Chapter 3. From Apprehension to Engagement: Understanding and Overcoming Library Anxiety in the Community College
Meagan M. Fowler

Chapter 4. Open Doors, Open Minds
Michele Handy

Chapter 5. Against the Blind Fetishization of “
Peer Review”
: Rethinking How We Teach Authority to Community College Students
Erika Montenegro and Dr. Jeremy Kaye

Chapter 6. Small Community College Libraries Moving Forward by Reaching Out: Personal Librarians and Individual Connections
Loren Mixon and Tracy Conner

Chapter 7. Yes, We Have an Archive! The Importance of Community College Archives
Kate Nadolski

Chapter 8. What’
s the Rush? Sense of Urgency in Community College Libraries
Courtney Nomiyama

Chapter 9. Changing a Stuck Library
Cassandra Norin

Chapter 10. If Accreditation Isn’
t Creating the Management Structure, Who Is? Library Administration in California’
s Community Colleges
Brooke Ramos

Chapter 11. Tik, Tok…
Boom! Explosive Marketing Practices to Engage Diverse Identities
Stephanie Espinoza Villamor

Part 2: Looking to the Future
Chapter 12. Who Belongs at the Reference Desk?
Dr. JosÉ
AguiÑ
aga

Chapter 13. Exploring LIS Academic and Career Pathways Through Community College Coursework
Nathasha Alvarez

Chapter 14. If You Build It, Students Will Come: Library Spaces as Institutional Hubs
Jennifer Arnold

Chapter 15. Curiosity in the Classroom: Challenges and Opportunities for Students and Librarians
Tish Hayes

227 Chapter 16
Organizational Cultures and Working Together: Community College Libraries and the Academic and Student Support Ecosystem
Linda Miles

Chapter 17. Caring for Caregivers: Supporting Student Parents with a Family Study Room
Laura K. Smith

Part 3: Editorial Perspectives
Chapter 18. Community College Libraries and Librarians: Higher Education’
s Unsung Heroes
Stephanie DeLano Davis

Chapter 19. Understanding the Value of the Community College Library
Dr. Sylvia Jenkins

Chapter 20. Keeping Them at Our Core: Community College Libraries and Student Success
Dr. Brian Knetl

Chapter 21. Community College Librarians: The Power of Collaboration
Dr. Natasha Casey

Conclusion and Reflections
Dr. Terra Jacobson and Spencer Brayton

About the Authors