Flexibility in Outreach

Developing a Student Commons Space on an Auxiliary Campus

Abstract

When COVID-19 shut down college libraries across the country, Central Oregon Community College (COCC) was no exception. In the ensuing scramble to close all in-person services and spaces during finals week, COCC library staff also were faced with closing the doors on a location that had not yet opened: a space that was almost 10 years in the making on an auxiliary campus. COVID taught librarians a lot about how flexible we can be and the value of delivering highly accessible remote service options. We also learned the value of our physical spaces and that an open door can literally and figuratively guide students to our services, especially on an outlying community college campus where nontraditional students already experience significant barriers finding, navigating, and using library resources. This article chronicles the development of the library space on one of COCC’s satellite campuses, how that development stalled and evolved in the wake of COVID, and the role this space plays in COCC library’s strategic outreach efforts moving forward.