Community College Library Services: Meeting Students Where They Are

Abstract

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 college libraries, with the understanding that our students have unique needs, strengths, and challenges. This paper explores how academic libraries, including community college libraries, are contested spaces, with challenges to their physical footprint, pressure to innovate, and administrative ambivalence. Although the future of libraries in higher education is often focused on technological innovation, community college libraries are responding to the challenges they face with changing service models that meet students where they are and support the whole person. Additionally, the paper uses the Queensborough Community College’s library as a case study on addressing students’ basic needs and wellness during and after the COVID-19 pandemic closures. Embracing a campus-wide call to support students’ sense of belonging, the QCC library recognized that even amidst budget cuts that shortened service hours and left vacant library faculty positions unfilled, the library was still open more than any other service on campus.