The Netflix docudrama, Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal, illustrates how college admissions, particularly at elite colleges, favors the privileged. Higher educational attainment overall favors the informed. Prospective students have many options when it comes to earning a college degree, with some of the more visible options (e.g. for-profit institutions) to degree attainment resulting in time and money wasted for nontraditional students. Thus, higher education professionals must educate prospective students on their options—sometimes at nontraditional locations. The local public library is one such uncommon, yet ideal location for reaching adult prospective students. Written from the perspective of a former higher education admission and advising professional now library science faculty, this article proposes that the reopening of public libraries post-quarantine is an opportune moment for colleges and universities to create partnerships to recruit adult students. Following a discussion of degree attainment among nontraditional students, barriers experienced, and public library services for adults, I offer four practical suggestions for higher education practitioners to collaborate with public libraries to broaden nontraditional, adult prospective students’ awareness of postsecondary opportunities.

Netflix 纪录片《大学校园蓝调行动：大学招生丑闻》展示了大学招生，尤其是精英大学的招生，是如何偏袒特权阶层的。总体而言，更高的教育程度有利于知情者。准学生在获得大学学位方面有很多选择，其中一些更明显的选择（例如营利性机构）会导致非传统学生浪费时间和金钱。因此，高等教育专业人士必须就他们的选择对未来的学生进行教育——有时是在非传统地点。当地的公共图书馆就是这样一个不常见的地方，但却是接触成年准学生的理想场所。从以前的高等教育录取和现在为图书馆学专业提供建议的角度撰写，本文提出，公共图书馆在隔离后重新开放是高校建立合作伙伴关系以招收成年学生的大好时机。在讨论了非传统学生的学位获得、遇到的障碍和成人公共图书馆服务之后，我为高等教育从业者与公共图书馆合作以扩大非传统的成人未来学生对高等教育机会的认识提供了四个实用建议。