University of British Columbia. School of Library, Archival, and Information Studies

The School of Librarianship opened in 1961. The School was founded by Samuel Rothstein and he became the Schools first Director, with strong support provided by UBC President Norman MacKenzie and University Librarian Neal Harlow. The School offered a one-year post-graduate Bachelor of Library Science program. Housed in the upper north wing of the UBC Main Library, the School opened with an enrolment of 30 students and four full-time faculty members. For a very long time, the School was Western Canadas only School of Librarianship. In 1963, the School was accredited by the Canadian Library Association and the American Library Association, making the Schools Bachelor of Science graduates eligible for employment in Canadian and U.S. libraries. In 1971, the School offered a two-year programme leading to the degree of Master of Library Science (MLS) and graduated its last graduates of Bachelor of Library Science that year. In 1981, UBC became the first North American university to offer a two-year programme in Archival Studies leading to a degree of Master of Archival Studies (MAS), which was administered jointly by the School of Librarianship and the Department of History. The first class comprised eight students and one full-time faculty member. In 1984, the School changed its name from the School of Librarianship to the School of School of Library, Archival and Information Studies (SLAIS). Despite the name change, the School continued to grant the degree of MLS until the 1994/95 academic year when the School graduated its first graduates with the Masters of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) designation. In addition to the MLIS and MAS programs of the School, it also offers the Joint Master of Archival Studies/Master of Library and Information Studies (MAS/MLIS) and the Certificate of Advanced Study. As part of all of these programs, students may elect to participate in the First Nations Curriculum Concentration. The School also offers a multidisciplinary Master of Arts in Childrens Literature (MACL), with the participation of the Departments of English, Language and Literacy Education, and Theatre, Film and Creative Writing. In 2001, the School announced its Ph.D. program. The Directors of the School, since 1961, include Samuel Rothstein (1961-1970), Roy Stokes (1970-1981), Basil Stuart-Stubbs (1981-1992), Ken Haycock (1992-2002) and Edie Rasmussen (2003- ). SLAIS offers its programs through the Faculty of Graduate Studies, but the School remains within the administrative jurisdiction of the Faculty of Arts.