Valuing the Community College Library:: Impactful Practices for Institutional Success

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.

Author: Terra Jacobson
Publisher: Assoc of College & Research Libraries
Published: 09/03/2025
Pages: 300
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.15lbs
Size: 9.92h x 7.01w x 0.63d
ISBN: 9798892555425

About the Author
Terra B. Jacobson (Chicago, IL) has been the dean of Learning Resources at Moraine Valley Community College (Palos Hills, IL) since 2016 and has worked in community college libraries since 2009. She has a PhD in Information Studies from Dominican University, an MS in Information Science, and an MS in Library Science, both from Indiana University, Bloomington. Her current research interests are strategic planning, outreach, and advocacy in academic libraries, and the future and value of community college libraries. She has published in College and Research Libraries, Library Philosophy and Practice, and a chapter in Managing Crises in the Academic Library: Past, Present and Future. She has served as the chair of Network of Illinois Learning Resources in Community Colleges (NILRC), a statewide consortium for community college learning resources, the CJCLS Scholarly Communications Committee, ACRL's Standards Committee and the Academic Library Trends and Statistics Survey Editorial Board. She currently teaches online at the State University of New York and at Dominican University in the School of Information Studies.

Spencer Brayton is director of Library Services at Waubonsee Community College (northeastern Illinois, USA). His research and publication interests include media and information literacy, community college libraries, coaching and leadership. Spencer received his Master of Arts in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a Master of Science in Management from the University of St. Francis (Joliet, IL), and is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Education in Higher Education from the University of Southern Mississippi.