Current Issue: July 2025
Editorial • July 2025
So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish: A Reflection
Kristen Totleben
This is my last editorial as Editor of College & Research Libraries (C&RL). My term was from 2022-2025. It has been a privilege, pleasure, and a rigorous learning experience for me to shepherd this journal. Throughout my term, I loved reading, reviewing, sharing and encouraging other colleagues’ work, and contributing to our profession’s knowledge and conversations. I’m taking this moment to reflect on my experiences as Editor. Many of you know that the phrase “So long, and thanks for all the fish,” is from science fiction writer Douglas Adams’ Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy series. It is a goodbye letter from the dolphins as they leave planet Earth. I’m borrowing it to say thank you and reflect on my past three years as C&RL Editor. ...
Article • July 2025
“I Don’t Think Librarians Can Save Us”: The Material Conditions of Information Literacy Instruction in the Misinformation Age
Amber Willenborg and Robert Detmering
This national qualitative study investigates academic librarians’ instructional experiences, views, and challenges regarding the widespread problem of misinformation. Findings from phenomenological interviews reveal a tension between librarians’ professional, moral, and civic obligations to address misinformation and the actual material conditions of information literacy instruction, which influence and often constrain librarians’ pedagogical and institutional roles. The authors call for greater professional reflection on current information literacy models that focus on achieving ambitious educational goals, but which may be unsuitable for addressing the larger social and political crisis of misinformation. ...
Article • July 2025
Carceral Labor and Academic Libraries: Investigating the Library Furniture
Kevin Adams and Maria Planansky
In this article the authors provide context for and detail the Alfred University Libraries’ investigation into the libraries’ relationship with manufacturing prison labor. The investigation utilized a patron furniture audit to collect furniture and manufacturer data. This research project demystifies the university library’s relationship to prison labor, with an eye toward future steps needed to address this relationship; it seeks to understand the following: the makeup of our patron furniture; our institution’s procurement policies, preferred sourcing, and legal requirements for purchasing; and the manufacturers’ relationships to prison labor. Findings are shared and recommendations are made for divesting from the prison industrial complex. ...
Article • July 2025
An Analysis of Hybrid/Remote Work Eligibility in Academic Librarian Job Advertisements
Ruth Sara Connell and Meris Mandernach Longmeier
This paper seeks to capture changing policies and approaches to hybrid and remote work in academic libraries following the COVID-19 pandemic. For this study, job advertisements were gathered and those hiring managers surveyed. Results show that hybrid/remote positions have competitive salaries; that many types of academic library positions have hybrid eligibility; and that campus and library policies regarding hybrid/remote work and their inclusion in job postings continue to evolve. Despite the potential recruitment benefits of these flexible work arrangements, many who offer them are not including this information in their job advertisements; therefore, job candidates should ask or negotiate for this benefit. ...
Article • July 2025
“At Least One Peer Reviewed Paper by Graduation”: An Analysis of Pre-Graduation Publication by Post-Baccalaureate Graduate Students
LeEtta Schmidt and Jason Boczar
This study examines the prevailing debates surrounding pre-graduation publishing and investigates the frequency of graduates including previously published material in a thesis or dissertation at one university. The goal of the study was to ascertain where library services outreach could best be targeted to help thesis and dissertation writing graduates with information on author rights and copyright. The results indicate that less than 15% of departments have a degree program that requires scholarly publishing prior to graduation. A quantitative analysis showed that 45% of submitted theses and dissertations included wording that indicated the presence of previously published material. ...
Book Review • July 2025
Creating an Inclusive Library: Approaches for Increasing Engagement and Use with Students of Color
Reviewed by Nery Alcivar-Estrella
Edited by Ngoc-Yen Tran, Michael J. Aguilar II, and Adriana Poo, Creating an Inclusive Library: Approaches for Increasing Engagement and Use with Students of Color showcases how librarians and library workers from various colleges and universities prioritize the information needs of students of color. The book addresses how to manage concerns that impact students of color through library instruction, collection development, and community building. Contributing authors provide guidelines to encourage libraries to launch their own initiatives and programming centered on diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism. The book covers how academic libraries responded to critical events throughout 2020 and 2021. ...