The Community College Conundrum: Workforce Issues in Community College Libraries

Arnold, Jennifer

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/18730 Copy

Description

Title

The Community College Conundrum: Workforce Issues in Community College Libraries

Author(s)

Arnold, Jennifer

Issue Date

2010

Keyword(s)

• Workforce Issues in Library and Information Science
• Academic librarians -- United States.
• Community college libraries -- Employees.
• Library personnel management -- United States.

Abstract

"Until recently, community colleges have been an overlooked segment of higher education. A recent Brookings Institution report labeled them an ""invisible institution"" (Goldrick-Rab, 2009, § 1). To many students, however, community colleges are not invisible, as an increasing number of undergraduates attend and/or graduate from two-year institutions. Much like the institutions themselves, community college libraries are similarly unnoticed, particularly in terms of workforce issues that distinguish community college libraries from their academic library counterparts at four-year institutions. Preparation for and recruitment into community college librarianship, for example, have their own unique challenges. Issues of career tracking, tenure/contracts, retention, and professional development are also different for community college librarians. This article examines the particular issues that are most critical to community college libraries, including efforts to increase the visibility of community college librarianship as a career and community college libraries as a distinct yet vital element in the landscape of academic libraries."

Publisher

Johns Hopkins University Press and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

ISSN

0024-2594

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/18730

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2010 Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

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