2026 ALISE Annual Conference

We employ a scoping review methodology to examine how the concept of CE in libraries has been understood and applied over time between 2000 and present. This review follows Arksey and O'Malley’s (2005) scoping review framework: 1) Under the primary research question — How has CE been utilized or defined in the identified literature? — we developed five sub-research questions, focusing on service domains, geographic locations, library types, level of participation, and type of community. CE definitions in the literature are categorized into the level of community participation. This review provides a conceptual foundation for understanding CE more consistently across the library field, and introduces power as an analytic lens for understanding desired outcomes of CE in both theory and practice.