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Education for Community College Librarianship: An Update

Ruth J. Person

Assistant Professor School of Library& Information Science Catholic University of America

In the past decade, there have been many changes in library education. Emphasis on new specializations, additions of new field experience alternatives, in some cases movement toward a more integrated curriculum, and emphasis on a functional rather than type-of-library approach suggest but a few of these changes. At the same time, much has happened in the field of community and junior college librarianship. The 1970s brought continuous growth in the number and size of community colleges and their learning resources centers. New ALA guidelines and quantitative standards for learning resources programs were developed. Innovative programs and services in learning resources centers have continued to grow, suggesting to some that the community college and its learning resources center provide a model of the future academic institution and its library in the use of instructional technology.¹

In informal discussions a number of community college librarians have raised questions about the current status of education for community college librarianship in light of the above-mentioned changes. How has education for librarianship reflected the changes taking place in the community college library? What is the status of community college librarianship within library education programs? How visible is community college librarianship as a potential area of specialization to prospective and current students in library education programs?

To answer these questions, a representative of the Community and Junior College Libraries Section’s Communications Committee polled the sixty-one ALA-accredited library schools in the United States through a brief questionnaire mailed to deans and directors at the end of the first academic term of 1980. In order to provide some comparative information, questions in the letter were designed to elicit similar information to that reported in Fritz Veit’s survey of 1968.² Veit reported on information elicited from forty-two schools; fifty schools responded to the current questions.

In 1968, Veit reported that there were no library schools offering a course designed specifically for students preparing for community college librarianship, and that only two schools were planning seminars on this topic. In 1980 (keeping in mind that some schools have moved away from type-of-library approaches), six schools reported the availability of such a course. Thirty-six additional schools offer a course in academic librarianship which covers the community college library. At least half of these schools also offer courses in specialized areas identified by both Edsall³ and Matthews⁴ as being important for study by future community college librarians. Such courses would include: “Non-book Materials,” “Design and Production of Instructional Materials,” “Design and Production of Media,” “Instructional Technology,” “Instructional Technology Administration,” “Media and Services for Adults,” “Multimedia Practicum,” “Media Centers: Theoretical Foundations,” “The District-Regional Media Center,” and “The Library in the Community,” as reported by the responding schools. Three schools encourage students to enroll in general education courses in “The Community College”; several have a special practicum for community college experience as well. Three schools also report special credit-free programs related to community college librarianship at the master’s or post-master’s level, whereas Veit reported only two in 1968.

While it must be noted that, as in Veit’s study, the contributions by other educational agencies and library schools not on the ALA list were not examined, nevertheless the developments in 1980 indicate some progress in increasing both the visibility and the educational opportunities in community college librarianship. Even with the combination of only modest growth⁵ and normal staff attrition, new community college librarians with specialized training, as suggested by Matthews and Edsall, will still be needed. At the same time we cannot expect all students to come to library science programs with a comprehensive knowledge of different types of library employment possibilities. If we wish to continue and/or increase the visibility of community college librarianship as an option for new entrants to librarianship, then we must turn to a new set of questions—“What role should community college librarians, either individually or through their associations, take in the promotion of their specialty to future entrants into librarianship?” and “How can new partnerships with library educators be formed so that this visibility and educational opportunity is insured?”

Notes

1. Damon D. Hickey, “The Impact of Instructional Technology on the Future of Academic Librarianship,” in Academic Libraries by the Year 2000, ed. by Herbert Poole (New York: Bowker, 1977), pp. 34-39.
2. Fritz Veit, “Training the Junior College Librarian,” Journal of Education for Librarianship 9 (Fall 1968): 108-115.
3. Charles Hale & Shirley Edsall, “The Education of Community College Librarians,” Journal of Education for Librarianship 16 (Fall 1975): 75-85.
4. Elizabeth W. Matthews, “Update in Education for Community College Library Administrators,” Journal of Education for Librarianship 19 (Spring 1979): 304-311.
5. See information about enrollment projections in community colleges in Nancy B. Dearman & Valena White Plisko, eds., The Condition of Education: Statistical Report 1980 (Washington: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, 1980), p. 24.