Running Head: LOOKING AT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY AND A

UNIVERSITY LIBRARY COMPARATIVELY

1

Looking At a Community College Library And A University Library

Comparatively
Paula A. Martin
Emporia State University School of Library and Information Services
LI835

LOOKING AT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY AND A UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY COMPARATIVELY
Abstract
When contemplating differences at a community college library setting and a
university library setting one might think those differences would be obvious. In terms of
actual services and resources, however, one is not necessarily better than the other.
Despite the fact that universities may have larger collections, community colleges have
more than adequate collections and both are taking on the challenges, embracing change,
and meeting the needs of their communities that they serve. This paper will take a
comparative look at two institutions and observe similarities of the community college
library and a university library, and how those institutions are working towards creating
collections and spaces that meet educational and community needs.
Keywords: community college, university, libraries, faculty, resources, study places,
spaces, students

LOOKING AT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY AND A UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY COMPARATIVELY
Introduction
In this comparison essay, one of the libraries observed is a university library, and
one is a community college library. There is also an additional observation of a second
community college in the conclusion. The library comparisons will include resources
offered, study and spaces, faculty use of the library, and increase or decrease in student
use. The two examples of libraries are good examples of the areas which they serve.
Eastern Oregon University (EOU) is in Union County, La Grande, Oregon, a city with a
population of 13,074. Mt. Hood Community College (MHCC) is in Multnomah County,
Gresham, Oregon with a population of 109,000 approximately. These two libraries are in
distinctly different areas, yet both provide and meet their student needs in the following
ways.
Resources
Academic library resources would appear to be changing from the classic print to
electronic resources as fast as budgets and demand can keep up. According to Marshall
Breeding in his article Balancing the Management of Electronic and Print Resources,
With the explosion of the web in the mid-1990s, scholarly publishers steered toward
electronic journals; during the course of a decade, libraries shifted their subscriptions
accordingly. Initially, electronic versions supplemented the print issues, but over time,
libraries shifted almost entirely from print to electronic subscriptions. In many of the
academic libraries that I visit, entire sections of the library that previously housed bound
volumes of journals have been converted to other types of use. Many academic libraries
report steep declines in both in-house circulation and interlibrary loans of physical
collection items (Breeding, M. 2014, v.34(5). Neither libraries compared in this paper
have had such a dramatic change in their collections as Breedings article indicates, but
electronic resources are definitely on the rise. Both libraries have an impressive amount

LOOKING AT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY AND A UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY COMPARATIVELY
of electronic resources available for the student populations they serve. This is due to the
fact that both Eastern Oregon Universitys Pierce Library, and Mt. Hood Community
College Library are part of Orbis Cascade Alliance.
Orbis Cascade Alliance is a 37 library strong consortium with memberships which spans
over three states, including Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Orbis has an impressive list
of electronic resources available for their members from vendors such as: American
Chemical Society, Credo Reference, EBSCO, Oxford University Press, Princeton
University, ProQuest, and Vanderbilt to name a few. Membership with Orbis means the
Alliance encourage libraries to identify resources of interest and the Alliance works with
the vendor, negotiating discounts, coordinating trials, licensing and invoicing (Orbis
Cascade Alliance, 2015, Electronic Resources). Due to membership with the Alliance,
and the vast amounts of electronic and shared resources offered, both library institutions
have significant amounts of print materials and other special collections accessible for
students and library users. Another advantage of belonging to the Orbis Cascade Alliance
consortium is that through the shared resources, both Pierce Library and MHCC Library,
have access to over nine million volumes.
According to Librarian Katie Townsend at Pierce Library, In regards to the
collection there havent really been any remarkable changes in the last few years. We do
focus less on print serials and more on electronic serials. We also focus on eBooks to
serve our online students. Our book budget has decreased over the years so we dont have
as much to spend on books as in the past. Finally we have been doing regular collection
management and weeding to remove some of our older less used titles. We also recently
added a small popular reading collection to give students access to new and popular
fiction (K. Townsend, personal communication, November 10th, 2015).

LOOKING AT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY AND A UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY COMPARATIVELY
Pierce Library at EOU is also an Oregon and Federal document depository. The
federal document collection contains over 78,000 items in all depository formats. Pierce
Library participates in the Oregon State Documents Depository program receiving
state documents through the Oregon State Library (Pierce Library, 2015, Government
Information at EOU). In addition the Pierce Library collection includes 153,000 book
volumes and 1,300 periodical titles. They also offer example textbook materials. Their
special Oregon collection includes:

Regional Historical Collection

Union County Oral Histories
Fred Hill Photograph Collections
EOU Historical Photos
Ecological Collection of Northeastern Oregon

MHCC Library collection includes 65,000 print books, 2,000 videos and DVDs
extensive periodical titles, and more than 60 research databases (MHCC Library, 2015,
About MHCC Library). According to Library Manager, Megan Dugan, in an e-mail
communication, This year the library has begun purchasing copies of textbooks for our
most highly demanded courses and placing them on reserve for student use. In the past,
we relied on donations from students or faculty and found this was not as successful and
there was not sufficient coverage of the high use titles (M. Dugan, personal
communication, November 5, 2015).
Study and spaces
Besides electronic resources and print materials, libraries are traditionally known
for studying. Due to an increase of group oriented projects in classes today, academic
libraries are finding ways to have collaborative spaces for group studying in addition to
the traditional quiet spaces. After questioning librarians from both institutions,
accommodations are being made and met to provide for both types of study. For Pierce

LOOKING AT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY AND A UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY COMPARATIVELY
Library of EOU this took a major renovation in 2012 which not only updated the space
but also added a third floor coffee lounge and reading room. The result is much needed
natural light and attractive study surroundings for students. Librarian Katie Townsend
wrote that, soon after the renovation many students reported liking the building better
and being happier with the building. We do consistently get comments about what a nice
space it is (K. Townsend, personal communication, November 10, 2015).
Mt. Hood Community College Library has high ceilings and wide open spaces to
begin with. According to Ms. Dugan, MHCC Library has created several zones of
studying in the library. She also stated, The seating area near the main entrance is full
of tables and chairs that seat four-six students comfortably. This is the buzz zone where
conversations can be loud, fun, and relaxed. We have three group study rooms where
people congregate when their group needs to spread out, use a white board or projector,
and study in a quieter environment. There are also study carrels for individual use in the
quiet zone in the back of the library beyond the stacks and collection. We are doing our
best to accommodate all types of study needs (M. Dugan, personal communication,
November 5, 2015).
MHCC Library also has a coffee bar and has attracted groups such as the Rho
Theta Honor Society, houses student government activities, and the Japanese Club. These
groups are encouraged by the MHCC library to provide suggestions for collection
purchases.
Faculty use of the library
According to Pierce Library, the faculty of EOU are very pleased with the
resources offered. On the library webpage, faculty have a special section which includes
ways the library can assist them in these categories:

Using Library Resources

Information Literacy Instruction

LOOKING AT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY AND A UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY COMPARATIVELY

Course Reserves and E-Readings

Subject Librarians

There is also a special section for faculty entitled: Copyright and Fair Use. EOU Pierce
Library also provides How to videos from How to find a database, to ARTSTOR
Workshops, to Citation Mangers (Pierce Library, 2015, For Faculty).
Ms. Dugan indicated that Mt. Hood CC Library has two faculty librarians that are
subject area liaisons and meet with instructional faculty through committees and division.
Ms. Dugan specified that, The faculty request library materials for course reserve, make
recommendations for purchase, share assignments and syllabi with our reference staff,
and ask the library to attend their events with resources in our pop-up library format. The
library staff are developing subject guides and class resources to support OER. We work
diligently to increase our visibility in all areas of our campus and keep collaborative
working relationships with faculty and staff (M. Dugan, personal communication,
November 5, 2015).
Student increase/decrease
Librarian Katie Townsend at Pierce Library, states that EOU student population
has decreased enrollment in the last few years which would account for a lower gate
count at the library. In email communication, Ms. Townsend stated that, it does make
sense though that our gate count will be down with fewer students on campus. We still
have students using the library and our services (K.Townsend, personal communication,
November 10, 2015).
Regarding student population at MHCC, Ms. Dugan replies there has been
decreasing enrollment at our college but the number of students using the library has
remained steady. We check statistics through reference, library instruction sessions,

LOOKING AT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY AND A UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY COMPARATIVELY
circulation, door counts, and head counts throughout the day. Use of our services has
maintained or increased despite lower enrollment at MHCC (M. Dugan, personal
communication, November 5, 2015).
Conclusion
During a practicum at Blue Mountain Community College (BMCC) Library , the
second community college previously mentioned was in transition time. Three months
prior, the Director had quit suddenly and left behind a library that was strewn with
outdated practices and procedures, broken faculty relationships, a weary staff, and
students who declared they would not step foot in the library. With a new innovative
director in place, the BMCC Library now exhibits fresh new study spaces, mended
faculty relationships, and a happy and well-trained staff emphasizing customer service. It
seems like one person couldnt cause irreparable damage, but in a small community
college library atmosphere, it can happen. The good news is the damage is reversing. This
example comes to mind because academic libraries must continually observe and analyze
the communities they serve to stay vital. If there is unyielding opposition it could end up
a disaster. Budgets are fierce in hard economic times, and libraries are taking cuts all the
time.
It is encouraging to see Pierce Library and MHCC Library devise and create
technical changes and physical spaces to accommodate students and the communities
they serve. Both libraries are admirable examples of libraries that are truly working
towards not just listening, but also meeting the needs of their students. There are
differences in size and resources, but both libraries provide necessary study spaces,

LOOKING AT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY AND A UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY COMPARATIVELY
collections, and faculty connections for the students and surrounding communities to
engage in.

LOOKING AT A COMMUNITY COLLEGE LIBRARY AND A UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY COMPARATIVELY
References
Breeding, M. (2015, June). The Systems librarian: balancing the management of
electronic and print resources. Information Today, Inc.
Retrieved from:
http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/jun14/Breeding--Balancing-the-Managementof-Electronic-and-Print-Resources.shtml
Eastern Oregon University. (2015). Pierce Library: Government information at EOU.
Retrieved from: http://guides.library.eou.edu/GOVT_FED
Eastern Oregon University. (2015). Pierce Library.
Retrieved from: http://library.eou.edu/
Fortris Instruction Inc. (n.d.). EOU Pierce library renovation.
Retrieved from: http://fortisconstruction.com/work/project/eou-pierce-libraryrenovation
Mt. Hood Community College Library. (2015). About the library.
Retrieved from: http://mhcc.edu/AbouttheLibrary/
Orbis Cascade Alliance. (2015). Electronic resources
Retrieved from: https://www.orbiscascade.org/electronic-resources-purchasingprogram
Orbis Cascade Alliance. (2015). History of the orbis cascade alliance.
Retrieved from: https://www.orbiscascade.org/history-of-alliance/
Orbis Cascade Alliance. (2015). Orbis cascade alliance: about
Retrieved from: https://www.orbiscascade.org/