Community college library service to early college high school students

Abstract This study examined the services provided by community college libraries and librarians to Early College High School (ECHS) students on their campuses. Based on focus group interviews with librarians at four community colleges that serve ECHS students, the researcher then surveyed community college librarians across the state of North Carolina to determine the services and resources provided to these nontraditional students. The results of this study provide information on both the services currently being provided and the barriers to those services. The results of this study could be used in designing librarian preparation programs which will better serve academic librarians serving in libraries with growing high school student populations. Furthermore, this study highlights the need for targeted professional training to better support librarians as their campuses continue to serve ECHS students.


Introduction
Research shows that many first-year college students in the United States arrive on college campuses unprepared to effectively use resources from their institution's libraries (Purcell et al. 2012;Taylor 2012).The difficulties faced by many first-year college students in the high school to college transition has been attributed to a lack of information literacy skills development and the dynamic growth of technology in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries (Burhanna 2013).This lack of information literacy skills has been studied by college and university librarians in an attempt to understand why this is the case and also to begin implementing changes by working with traditional high school librarians (Burhanna 2008;Oakleaf and Owen 2010).However, little research has been conducted that examines the exposure of nontraditional high school students to academic resources and library services.This research project will lay the foundation for future research by examining the role that community college librarians play in providing research assistance and instruction for Early College High School (ECHS) students.This study seeks to analyze how libraries and librarians are providing services and resources to early college high school students and faculty on community college campuses.
Located in more than 30 US states with North Carolina, Michigan, and Texas having more than 100 locations each, the Early College High Schools model continues to expand (Edmunds et al. 2020).Many are located on community college campuses.At the time of this study, North Carolina was home to 133 Cooperative Innovative High Schools (CIHS) including 117 that were created as partnerships between local educational agencies (LEAs) and community colleges.CIHS was created in 2004 as part of the Learn and Earn Initiative and updated with the Innovative Education Initiatives Act and the Career & College Promise Program (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 2017).

Early college high schools
The high school to college transition refers to the ability of high school students to successfully navigate the expectations of college and university academics.Unfortunately, multiple studies have shown that many students have not been completely successful as evidenced by the fact that half of all students attending a four-year institution of higher learning are required to take at least one remedial course (Scott-Clayton and Rodriguez 2015).This deficiency in preparing students for college, led to reforms in education, in particular the P-16 movement which seeks to improve the alignment between K-12 education and higher education.Librarians have been acutely aware that many of their students are not well-prepared for college-level research (Fitzgerald 2004).
One attempt to address the transition to college for high school students was a movement to reform high schools in innovative ways.The ECHS movement grew out of the education reform movement of the 1990s and expanded very quickly with the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation beginning in 2002 (Walk et al. 2013).Today, many of these early colleges are part of the Early College High School Initiative sponsored by the Gates Foundation and Jobs for the Future.In North Carolina, Early Colleges were created as part of the CIHS program in 2004.These partnerships are intended to target students who are at risk of dropping out of school prior to graduation, students whose parents did not continue their education beyond high school, or students who might benefit from accelerated instruction.By attending an ECHS, students earn both a high school diploma and an associate degree.As of the 2015-2016 school year, there were eighty-three Early Colleges working in partnership with community colleges (North Carolina Department of Public Instruction 2017).

Research in early college high schools
Most research on Early Colleges centers on program implementation and student outcomes, but little research examines the role of community college librarians in helping prepare students for future academic research at the university or college level (McDonald and Farrell 2012;Song and Zeiser 2019;Tinberg and Nadeau 2011).In her literature review on information literacy needs of community college students, Nelson (2017) highlighted the growing population of high school students in community colleges but only focused on services to high school students involved in dual-enrollment programs and not as early college students.The Early College Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro has also conducted extensive research on the ECHS Model for over fifteen years.This research includes examination of the impacts of the different types of early colleges in multiple states including North Carolina.Although much of this research examines how Early Colleges prepares students for college academics, libraries are not centered in the preparedness (Early College Research Center n.d.).In their research on how Early Colleges address academic barriers, Edmunds et al. (2022) addressed four kinds of barriers to success in college faced by high school students.They categorized these barriers as academic, cultural, logical, and financial.While discussing academic barriers, they discussed the academic supports that are traditionally provided to ECHS students.However, their research did not examine how community college libraries could assist in addressing these academic barriers.
Research on the services of community college libraries for ECHS students is very sparse.The Handbook for Community College Librarians only mentions early college students in a brief paragraph and provides no other guidance about the unique needs of high school students on a campus that primarily caters to adult learners (Crumpton and Bird 2013).Only one study has examined academic library services to ECHS students.However, Herring's (2013) study examined services provided by a university library, not a community college library.Additionally, this study provides little insight as the ECHS in this study had no on-site library services.The absence of studies in this area is particularly troubling as students enrolled in ECHS settings are considered disadvantaged high school students, often first-generation college-attendees, from low-income and minority backgrounds.David Conley, a theorist in college readiness, has argued that two domains should be addressed for college readiness: key content knowledge and key cognitive strategies.Libraries and librarian instruction could be one resource for addressing some of the academic gaps or barriers experienced by these at-risk students especially the key cognitive strategies domain.This domain includes problem formulation, research, interpretation, communication, and precision (Edmunds et al. 2022).By providing information literacy and research skill instruction, librarians can assist ECHS students in building their cognitive strategies to prepare them for success in college.
This exploratory study begins to fill in this gap in the research literature.The researcher was guided by an overarching research question: How are ECHS students being served by community college libraries?As exploratory research, the researcher decided to approach this question in two phases.Phase I included focus group interviews with community college librarians intended to explore two areas: • As the librarian at a community college with an ECHS, what services are you providing to students enrolled in the early college?• What barriers do you perceive in providing library services to students enrolled in early college?
The results from the focus group interviews were then used for Phase II in the construction of a survey to further explore services provided by community college libraries across the state of North Carolina.

Methods
Because of the lack of previous research in this area, the researcher determined that a two-phase approach to the study would provide a better exploration of the topic.Therefore, Phase I consisted of a series of focus group interviews with a convenience sample of community college librarians whose colleges housed early college high school programs in North Carolina.Additionally, this phase included an interview with two members of the support staff for libraries of the North Carolina Community College System.Phase II consisted of a survey sent to all librarians who served in community colleges that house Early Colleges.The survey instrument was constructed based on the results of the first phase of this study and was reviewed by two community college librarians for clarity before being distributed.

Participants and data collection
Prior to recruitment of focus group participants, the researcher met with the Director of Library Services for the North Carolina Community College System and an additional staff member from the system office.The system office is the headquarters of the community college system and is located in Raleigh, North Carolina.It is staffed by the system president and other support staff including a director of library services and technician who works on the union catalog for most of the libraries in the community college system.This meeting provided insight into the staffing, services, and system office role in supporting community college libraries.After this initial meeting, the researcher identified 83 ECHS programs that are housed in community colleges in North Carolina.In the first phase of this study, a convenience sample of librarians from four community college libraries were recruited.The four groups were solicited to reflect a wide range of early colleges: newly established, well established, rural, and urban.To incentivize participation, each participant received a $25 Amazon gift card that they could use to purchase materials for their libraries.A total of ten community college librarians participated in four focus group interviews.Each interview was conducted in person at the community college library with the interview being audio recorded for later transcription and review by the participants.One of the focus groups included librarians from two different campuses of the same community college.Both of those campuses were serving ECHS students.See Appendix A for focus group questions.
In the second phase of this study, an electronic survey was distributed on the North Carolina Community College Library Association listserv.The survey was also distributed to directors of North Carolina community college libraries for distribution to their staff members.To incentivize participation, survey respondents were entered into a raffle for an iPad mini.Developed based on the analysis of responses from Phase I this questionnaire more systematically assessed what services community college librarians provided for early college students.In one section, librarians were asked to respond to statements using a Likert scale (rated 1 Completely Agree to 5 Completely Disagree).In addition, this questionnaire collected information about resource purchases specifically geared for high school students and collaboration efforts with high school faculty.The survey resulted in 46 usable responses from a total of 53 total respondents.Not every survey response will include 46 responses.Participants could choose to skip over any question that they wished.The participants represented thirty-four different community colleges (out of a possible eighty-three) across the state of North Carolina.Those responding held titles from library assistant to dean of library services.See Appendix B for the full survey.

Data analysis
The qualitative data generated from the focus groups was analyzed using grounded theory.In research using this analytical technique, theories and data collection instruments are developed through inductive data analysis (Glaser 1992).The focus group interview transcriptions were imported into NVivo 12 for analysis of the text.The qualitative data was analyzed by using thematic analysis.Thematic analysis is "a method for identifying, analyzing and reporting patterns (themes) within data" and is widely used as a qualitative descriptive method (Braun and Clarke 2006, 79).Themes emerged from the data by utilizing inductive coding.The steps of analyzing qualitative data included: (1) review the entirety of each focus group transcript as a whole; (2) create initial codes; (3) reread and review codes; (4) determine themes based on codes; (5) revise codes and themes; and (6) finalize themes.

Themes from the focus groups
The coding and thematic analysis of the focus group interviews revealed four broad themes: the difficulty of collaboration, the provision of programming and events, the development of policies, and a lack of training.

Collaboration
The difficulty of collaboration was a recurring conversation within each of the four focus groups.One cause of that difficulty was explained by a librarian saying, "We can get it done and we're happy to work with everybody, but you need to tell us what your needs are."Communication was a major problem at almost every location.ECHS teachers and administrators used different email systems than those used by librarians and faculty employed by the community college.Librarians in most cases did not have a list of ECHS staff that worked on their campus making it difficult to establish cooperative relationships.At one community college, communication was made slightly easier because of the close proximity of the ECHS classrooms to the library; however, this was not the case at all of the colleges.As another librarian stated, "Communication is probably, if I had to say, that's the biggest downfall." Collaboration was also often dependent on the level of coordination with the ECHS liaison.Each ECHS has a liaison whose role is to provide coordination between the ECHS and the college.In one case, the liaison had his office within the library itself.For this library, the liaison was especially helpful in establishing greater communication and providing support in setting policies and boundaries for the high school students.However, in some cases those fulfilling the liaison roles rotated so often that librarians found it difficult to keep track of who the liaison was.Sometimes, liaisons even served as barriers by preventing direct communication and requiring all messages to go through them.
An additional barrier to communication was a shortage in staffing in the community college libraries.Although many of these college campuses saw an influx of new students from the ECHS, no additional staffing was provided in the libraries which were expected to provide services to those additional students.Librarians mentioned that these students often required additional supervision which then limited the mobility of librarians and their ability to leave the library to approach ECHS faculty about opportunities for collaboration.As a result, ECHS faculty almost always had to come to the library itself to discuss projects and activities with the staff.

Programming and events
Each librarian expressed their interest in providing programming for ECHS students.While some libraries provided all-inclusive programming that was not geared specifically toward high school students, others had specific events designed to appeal to teenagers.One librarian explained that programming and special events served to introduce the library and its staff to students, explaining, "It makes us look more approachable when we do fun stuff just because, 'Oh, the library is a good place to go if I need help.'"The librarian explained that once the students were in the library they could then see how the staff were friendly and the resources were helpful to them for class and for their personal use.
Staffing remained a barrier for providing the level of programming that some of the librarians wished to provide.One librarian mentioned that she wished to implement a book club with regular meetings with students but as the only full-time librarian her time was limited.

Collection development and policy revision
Because of the addition of minors to the population being served, some of the librarians had to make adjustments in policies that addressed provision of services or resources to ECHS students.Additionally, as ECHS students are less mature and sometimes fail to understand boundaries, policies were developed to protect the library's ability to serve adults, their traditional student population.One librarian explained that after several incidents of inappropriate behavior in the private group study rooms, they instituted a policy that study rooms could only be scheduled through the ECHS liaison and must be used for academic projects.Another librarian explained that they had to install security cameras near one secluded area of the library to ensure adequate supervision.
All the librarians explained that they had adjusted their collection development policies to address the academic needs and personal reading interests of teenagers.Several of the libraries added a graphic novel section to their collections along with newly published young adult fiction.Most of the librarians explained that they had seen increases in overall circulation which they attributed to their ECHS students.

Training
While two of the librarians in the focus groups had previous experience working in a K-12 school setting, the other librarians expressed a lack of preparation for working with adolescents.The eight who had no experience with adolescents also explained that their coursework while earning their master's degree in library science was also focused on academic libraries and working and teaching adults.Even the two librarians with K-12 experience had only worked in elementary settings and had little preparation in adolescent development.Additionally, one librarian explained that an area which they really needed assistance with was working with students with special needs such as those on the autism spectrum.
Professional development was completely absent as each community college transitioned to hosting an ECHS.One librarian summed up her experience, "We really haven't had any professional development on best practices for how to work with any age range, but definitely not the high school." All of the focus group participants explained that even community college faculty who taught entry level courses with high school students were provided no additional professional development.

Findings from the survey
The survey (Appendix B) asked community college librarians information about the services provided by their libraries as well as general information about their interactions with early college high school students and staff.Additionally, the respondents were asked about barriers to access and their own preparation for working with high school students.Respondents did not respond to all survey questions, and the reason for this is unknown.

Interactions with the ECHS
Several questions asked librarians to estimate the percentage of their community college's enrollment that was made up of early college high school students.The average percentage of enrollment was 21.23%; however, the percentage ranged from 3% to 90% of enrollment.
Because the Early College movement has been growing, some community colleges have hosted early college students for a greater period of time than others.Table 1 shows the hosting variation.
Although ECHS students take classes on the community college campus, there is great variability in the proximity of those classrooms to the library itself.Table 2 shows how librarians described the proximity of ECHS classrooms to the library.
The proximity of the library to where high school students were taking their classes could have an impact on the amount of access students had to the library and interactions between library staff with ECHS staff and students.Respondents indicated that their interactions with students primarily occurred individually in the library (n = 30).Only four librarians said their interactions happened within high school class settings.And six librarians had interactions with ECHS students in the community college classes the students were taking.Figure 1 shows that over 70% of interactions between students and librarians occurred in the library when students visited the library on their own.
One feature of many ECHS is the inclusion of a person who acts as liaison between the ECHS and faculty and staff of the community college.When asked about awareness of this position, 23 of the respondents knew that there were liaisons, seven respondents indicated there was not a liaison at their ECHS, and thirteen respondents were uncertain about the presence of a liaison.
The lack of a liaison may also hamper communication.Respondents were asked to rate the statement "Communication with early college teachers and administration is effective."Figure 2 shows the range of responses with those who agree or completely agree (n = 8) being equal to those who disagree to completely disagree (n = 8).
Because communication is an important part of developing relationships and collaborating with others, the responses are similar to the statement, "I collaborate with the high school teachers to provide instruction on a regular basis." Figure 3 illustrates the range of responses to this statement.

Service to ECHS students
The survey asked librarians to indicate what services they provided for ECHS students.They were provided with a checklist where they could indicate multiple responses.They also could provide additional information that the checklist did not cover.Figure 4 shows the services provided using the checklist.
Six areas had the highest indication of services provided.Fourteen percent of respondents provide an orientation to the library (n = 40), research help (n = 42), and interlibrary loan services (n = 40).Thirteen   building is adjacent 10 building is near but not adjacent 14 building is on the opposite side of campus 12 library and eCHs are in the same building 7    An additional open-ended question asked survey participants to provide examples of programming they provided that was specifically designed for the high school students on their campuses.Multiple respondents shared that they had book clubs for the high school students.One library coordinated a Battle of the Books team for competition.Another indicated that they provided Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) help.One librarian said that they "did nothing for them specifically, but they are more likely to participate in the programs we provide for all students." Although only two librarians indicated that they purchased materials specifically for high school students in the question about services, a question in the survey asked librarians to provide information about additions to their collections to meet the needs of early college high school students.One respondent said, "No concerted collection development strategies have been specifically targeted for EC (early college) students."Others provided these examples: • Young adult fiction and some nonfiction (multiple respondents indicated this) Almost all the respondents indicated that they have supplemented the fiction materials with young adult and/or juvenile fiction and graphic novels for the early college students.
As a result of these additional purchases, some libraries have experienced increased circulation of their collections.Thirteen of the seventeen respondents to a statement on circulation indicated that early college use of the collection has resulted in an increase in their circulation numbers.Figure 5 illustrates their responses.

Barriers to access/collaboration
Based on the focus group interviews, the survey included a section to explore barriers to access and collaboration and the support librarians felt they needed to work with ECHS students and faculty.The survey asked several questions about barriers that might exist for access or collaboration.
Librarians were asked to respond on a Likert scale to the statement, "My library has adequate staffing to provide the services needed for students."Figure 6 shows almost an even number of those who agree (n = 7) or disagree (n = 8) with the statement.
Respondents were also asked to respond to a statement about adequate funding to provide resources.These responses were like those on staffing with eight agreeing with the statement and seven disagreeing.Figure 7 shows these responses.
Librarians were also asked to reflect on the preparation for working with high school students that they received with their library degree.The statement resulted in eight indicating they agreed or completely agreed that they were prepared with only five that disagreed.It is interesting to note that no respondents completely disagreed with the statement and four indicated a neutral response.Figure 8 illustrates the responses.
Librarians were also asked to indicate if they felt their community college had provided adequate professional development to prepare them to work with high school students.The responses show that only one respondent agreed that they were prepared by their community colleges while thirteen disagreed or completely disagreed.Figure 9 shows their responses.
Based on the focus group interviews, the respondents were asked to indicate topics for additional training from a provided list and the format in which they would like to learn more about those topics.Table 3 shows the topics for which respondents wanted more training.The survey concluded with an open-ended question asking for additional insights about working with early college high school students.Many responses to this question demonstrate that librarians enjoyed working with their early college high school patrons sharing that they are "a motivated and intelligent group."One librarian responded that they "would rather have an Early College to work with than to be without an Early College."Another shared that "they are our best users and are great readers."Some indicated that their main frustrations stem from lack of maturity which improves as they move through the early college program.

Discussion
While it appears that some community college libraries are providing services for ECHS students and faculty, their reach appears to be limited due to a number of barriers that exist.

Services being provided
The survey and focus group interviews identified that four main types of services are being provided through community college libraries: increased collections and access to resources, bibliographic instruction and research help, teen programming, and technology.
The type of service with the greatest response in both the surveys and focus groups was providing access to materials that were being purchased specifically for the needs of the ECHS students.Many librarians indicated that they had increased targeted collection development of young adult fiction and nonfiction.One librarian commented, "Our EC kids are our best readers.We've expanded our Young Adult and Graphic Novel collections and have added to our regular collections because of their print demands."Another librarian mentioned that although her library had previously relied on interlibrary loan to meet the needs of their teen readers, they were going to begin a young adult collection because their consortium was disbanded, and they would no longer have access to those titles.
The surveys and focus group interviews demonstrated that most of the participants were providing ECHS students with bibliographic instruction, research help, and general information on how to use the community college library.Many indicated that they were providing orientations for new students.
While many of the librarians explained that the programming they provided is open to all students at the community college, some had ECHS-specific activities.Several mentioned that they sponsored book clubs with the ECHS students.Others provided FAFSA workshops.
A final area of service is provision of technology.While most libraries have computers for use within the library during patron visits, a few have purchased additional laptops, chargers, and charging stations specifically for the use of ECHS students.One librarian explained that the ECHS students had been issued Apple devices through their school; however, the students sometimes found it difficult to complete their college coursework on those devices.Therefore, the library bought laptops for their use.Another library wrote a grant for laptops for their ECHS students.

Barriers to providing services
Through the focus groups, several potential barriers to library services were identified.These barriers were then explored further through the survey.Barriers could be organized into four categories: communication and collaboration, proximity, funding and staffing, and librarian preparation and training.
Focus groups identified the difficulty in communicating with ECHS faculty and staff as a barrier to collaboration.Although each focus group mentioned that their ECHS employed a liaison between the ECHS and community college faculty/staff, the survey indicated that not every campus had a liaison or that the librarian knew if there was one.Additionally, sometimes the liaison actually became a barrier to instead of a facilitator for communication because of a failure to respond in a timely manner.
An additional communication problem identified through the survey responses was that the community college faculty and ECHS faculty and staff were using different email communication systems.The ECHS faculty and staff had email through their respective school districts.One librarian explained that "The faculty of Early College are not part of the college's email service, so they do not get campus-wide emails.Additionally, we do not have access to their email addresses to open dialogue with them; we are to rely on our liaison, who does not forward things on in a timely manner, if at all."The lack of ability to communicate efficiently with faculty members limits the ability to collaborate.Some of the focus groups and survey respondents cited proximity as a potential barrier to both communication and library usage.One librarian explained, "My frustration is the physical distance to their building.I wish they were closer to the library."Another librarian discussed that having the ECHS students in the same building meant that they were able to build relationships with the students and see them on a regular basis.She went on to say, "We are able to nurture student-library relationships with many of the ECHS students as they are on campus for multiple years, with some staying through a fifth year as a super senior." Many of the participants identified funding and staffing as possible barriers to providing services.The inadequate funding limited both the hours the library could be staffed and the number of staff available to assist students and provide additional services that they would like to offer.Additionally, a lack of funding limited the amount of collection development that could be focused on meeting the needs of their ECHS patrons.One librarian said that their collection development funds could only be used for curriculum-related purchases and not for recreational reading.
An additional barrier for some librarians was a lack of preparation to work with their teenage patrons.Many of the librarians in the focus groups discussed the difficulties of shifting to working with teen patrons after being trained to work with adult patrons through their academic library-focused graduate library programs.They also indicated that although their community colleges did provide professional development, it was seldom focused on working with the ECHS students or faculty.In the interviews and open comments in the surveys, librarians mentioned feeling unprepared to deal with the immaturity of ECHS students and behavior issues that arose when those students independently used the library.They also discussed needing training on working with students with special needs.From the survey responses, the two areas in which librarians most wanted additional training were collaborating with high school teachers and diversifying their young adult collection.

Implications and recommendations
Based on the focus group interviews and survey responses, librarians want to provide services for teen patrons and do so when they can.However, they are often faced with barriers to providing the services they wished.Using the data, the following are suggestions to help remove some of these barriers: 1. Participate in additional training and preparation for working with ECHS patrons and faculty.2. Identify and communicate with ECHS liaisons, faculty, and administration.3. Advocate and provide justification for additional funding and resources.4. Overcome distance by reaching out to and visiting ECHS classes.
To participate in additional training, that training needs to be available.State level library organizations should explore potential webinar topics related to serving ECHS students and faculty.Additionally, the Association of College and Research Libraries should include community college programming at their conferences specifically about early college students and collaborating with high school faculty.If there is a centralized administration for community college libraries in a state, that system office should develop workshops or webinars to support community college librarians to provide the training that they need.Also, graduate level library science programs should expand their preparation of academic librarians to include information about adolescent development, collaboration with faculty, and young adult collection development.
Communication and collaboration could be improved with additional effort and streamlining of communication channels.Librarians should build relationships with the ECHS liaison, administration, and faculty.They should get a list of faculty and staff at the ECHS and their contact information, begin exploring ways to have regular communication through email, attending ECHS faculty meetings, and visiting departmental meetings.They could also offer to host those meetings within the library space.These steps could also overcome the issue of proximity by either going to where the students and faculty are or inviting or encouraging them to come to the library space.
To gain additional funding for staff and resources, librarians need to undertake analysis of their collections, determine the staffing required for additional hours and services, and then develop a plan to advocate for what is needed.While it may be difficult to obtain recurring funds, grants may be a viable option for additional services, technology, or materials for their collection.
Additional research in this area would assist in providing greater understanding of the services community college libraries can and do provide.As this study only explored one state, additional research is needed to determine whether the same services and barriers to services exist beyond that state.It would be helpful to know in what ways academic librarian preparation programs are addressing the growth in Early College High Schools on community college campuses.That information could then be used to suggest areas for inclusion of topics like adolescent development, collaborative teaching, and young adult reading.

Conclusion
It is imperative that community college libraries and librarians are prepared to meet the needs of the high school students who are now on their campuses.Librarians who have worked with these students have found that they can be the most frequent users of the library and its service.One librarian explained, "Hands down, I love the early college students."However, barriers to providing these services do exist.Overcoming these barriers will be key to supporting the academic success of high school students enrolled in Early College High Schools.
length of time hosting eCHs total responses (n = 31) less than 5 years 5 5-10 years 14 longer than 10 years 12 percent provide bibliographic instruction (n = 38), group study space (n = 38), and individual study space (n = 37).One respondent indicated in the other services provided that they have a snack room as part of their library.Additionally, two respondents indicated specific additions to the library of young adult fiction and nonfiction.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.library staff and eCHs student interaction location.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Communication with eCHs teachers and administrators.

Figure 4 .
Figure 4. services provided to eCHs students.

Figure 5 .
Figure 5. impact of eCHs students on library circulation.

Figure 10
Figure 10 provides information on preferred formats for each topic.Few librarians wanted to gain additional training through graduate level coursework.Most indicated that webinars where they preferred modality with half-day workshops or conference sessions about equally preferred.The survey concluded with an open-ended question asking for additional insights about working with early college high school students.Many responses to this question demonstrate that librarians enjoyed working with their early college high school patrons sharing that they are "a motivated and intelligent group."One librarian responded that they "would rather have an Early College to work with than to be without an Early College."Another shared that "they are our best users and are great readers."Some indicated that their main frustrations stem from lack of maturity which improves as they move through the early college program.

Figure 10 .
Figure 10.topics and formats for professional development.

Table 1 .
length of time community colleges have hosting eCHs.

Table 2 .
eCHs proximity to the library.

Table 3 .
Professional development topics.