Library Liaison Services in US Community Colleges

Abstract

Library liaison services have been shown to be a valuable component of higher education in the US. Despite this established value, however, liaison services specific to community colleges are rarely discussed in the scholarly literature, while such services from universities and research institutions are well researched. Though it is understandable that liaison services at universities and community colleges would have similarities such as collaboration and outreach with students and faculty, it is only logical that they would also have differences due to the differences in user groups they serve. However, performing any reasonable comparison is difficult due to the absence of scholarly discourse regarding liaison services at community colleges. This article fills this gap by presenting survey data on the state of liaison services in community college libraries in the US. The data shows that a range of liaison work is being performed by community college librarians; A number of opportunities for further inquiry are also identified.