The Community College Conundrum: Workforce Issues in Community College Libraries

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.