A Concern for Communication

Visits to thirty-one outstanding community college libraries from July 1975 through March 1976 produced a composite picture of the library quite different from earlier decades of the twentieth century. In the mid-1970s it was called a learning resources center as often as it was called a library. It housed a unified collection of print and nonprint mater~als. It uxls in a new building, and the books were classified by the L~brary of Congress classification system. Two features were par-ticularly noteworthy: modern physical facilities and an enthusiastic library faculty that provided dedicated service to students and fac-ulty. IN THE FORMATIVE YEARS of the com-munity college, from the establishment of Joliet Junior College in 1901 to the end of World War II, the high school library usually provided service to jun-ior college students. Collections were small and book-oriented. The librarian was usually also the high school librari-an or had previously held that position. In the period from 1945 to 1960 the library began to change, reflecting the changes taking place in two-year college education. The junior college was now a part of higher education rather than an extension of secondary education. The library collections slowly increased, additional professional persons were employed, and a few new libraries were built. In the 1960s tremendous changes took place as the comprehensive community college emerged. The library oriented to print was replaced by a learning re-sources center. The 1960 standards rec-ommending a minimum collection o