History of the Program
The Library and Information Science Program can trace its origins to 1918, when the Detroit Normal Training School began offering courses in school librarianship to elementary teachers in the Detroit Public Schools. After the training school became the Detroit Teachers College in 1923, the library science program grew. In the 1930s, the college offered future elementary and secondary school librarians a bachelor's degree with a minor in library science. In 1940, the Teachers College became Wayne University and in 1956 it became Wayne State University.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the Library Science Department broadened and diversified its program to include both undergraduate courses and a series of continuing education programs. The American Library Association (ALA) accredited the Master of Science in Library Science (MSLS) degree offered by the Program in 1967. Due to growing budgetary concerns, it was necessary to move the Program out of the College of Education in 1984, and it began functioning under the administrative jurisdiction of the Dean of University Libraries. In recognition of the growth of the Program and the expansion of its curriculum, the name of the Program was changed to the Library and Information Science Program in 1993. The Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree is accredited by the ALA; the next regularly scheduled review will take place in 2009. The Graduate Certificate in Archival Administration was established in 1961; the Specialist Certificate in Library and Information Science was created in 1978. Both the Joint MLIS/MA degree and Graduate Certificate in Information Management were established in 2007.
The Library and Information Science Program is unique in its status as part of the University Library System. The University Libraries contain 3,348,242 print volumes and 20,940 periodical titles. Library users have access to 59 electronic databases.
The Library and Information Science Program at Wayne State University is one of only two Master’s-only programs ranked in the top 20 library and information science programs (according to the most recent U.S. News and World Report survey in 2006). With a current enrollment of almost 600 students, our program is one of the largest master's programs in library and information science, as well as one the largest school library media preparation programs (enrollment: 238 students) in the nation. Students come from highly rural, urban, and suburban settings and reflect the socioeconomic and racial diversity of southeastern Michigan. Fifteen full-time faculty and over 80 part-time faculty facilitate online, face-to-face, and blended format courses in academic, public, special, and school libraries as well as archives and information systems areas.