Community college students often balance coursework with jobs, caregiving responsibilities, financial pressures, and other demands. In a new University Business article, HMC Architects’ Managing Principal Marko Blagojevic explores how campus libraries can evolve to better support these students and strengthen their connection to campus.

Rather than serving primarily as repositories for books and quiet study, today’s community college libraries can bring academic support, basic-needs resources, access to technology, and opportunities for connection together into one welcoming and highly visible destination.

Blagojevic explains how integrating services such as tutoring, academic advising, financial aid, wellness resources, and technology assistance can make support easier to find while reducing the stigma sometimes associated with asking for help. Flexible study and collaboration spaces, makerspaces, digital media labs, and inclusive environments can also help students build relationships, explore career pathways, and remain engaged beyond scheduled class time.

By understanding how students experience the campus and where barriers exist, community colleges can transform their libraries into powerful tools for strengthening belonging, persistence, and long-term success.

Read the full article in University Business.