Indiana university. Graduate library school

In 1947, the Indiana University Division of Library Science (DLS) was established as a division within the School of Education with Margaret I. Rufsvold serving as director. In 1966, the Graduate Library School was established as a separate academic unit. In 1980, the name was changed to the School of Library and Information Science.

Bernard M. Fry served as Dean of the Graduate Library School 1967-1980.

The School of Education's Division of Library Science became the IU Graduate Library School in 1967. During Fry's time as Dean, the School was noted nationally and internationally for being one of the top five schools in the field.

During the 1930 summer session, Indiana University offered its first class for the preparation of school librarians. The class was taught through the School of Education and was offered only in the summer until 1938, when the class was expanded and offered throughout the entire school year. That same year, Margaret I. Rufsvold came to I.U. to help develop the Library Science curriculum. She had graduated from the University of Wisconsin and obtained a Masters degree in Library Science from Peabody College Library School.

In 1947, the Division of Library Science (DLS) was established within the School of Education, with Rufsvold as its director. It was given total autonomy and the responsibility to develop a professional program in the highest tradition of American library education. It offered an undergraduate program consisting of eighteen semester hours of work and ten graduate semester hours that were only offered in the summer. At the time, the Division concentrated on training individuals for work in school and public libraries. Students focusing on school librarianship were granted a school librarian’s provisional certificate in the library science area. The certificate was valid for five years and could be converted to a first-grade certificate if a Master’s degree was acquired. The certificate for those interested in becoming public librarians was handled by the Indiana Library Certification Board. In 1949, the curriculum was expanded to include a five year program that would lead to a Master of Arts with a major in Library Science.

DLS moved from the basement of the Alpha house (later called Alpha Hall) in 1951, to the new Education Building. The program grew further to include two new degrees. The first was a Master of Arts degree with a major in Library Science for persons interested in becoming school librarians. The second was offered jointly through the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Medicine, and was a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Record Librarianship. This same year the American Library Association (ALA) adopted new standards for accreditation of library schools. While I.U. began to restructure their curriculum to fit the ALA graduate school accreditation, the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) presented a set of standards for undergraduate library schools as well. In April 1953, after two years of preparation, the DLS was granted accreditation by the ALA.

In 1955, the university signed a contract with the government of Thailand to help establish a national college of education in Bangkok. The project was funded by the United States Foreign Operations Administration. The School of Education was in charge of overseeing the project, but the DLS, and Rufsvold in particular, were called upon to help build the college’s library and to train its staff. Rufsvold later received an honorary doctorate from Prasanmitr Teacher’s College of Srinakharinwirot University in Bangkok for her work on this project. The contract for the project was renewed in 1957 and work continued through 1959. A similar project, the Pakistan-Punjab contract, was started in 1959 to help rebuild and manage the library there.

In 1959, two more areas were added to the MA program: Science & Technology Librarianship and Technical Services in Libraries. The next year the Audio Visual club was awarded a contract to advise and assist the Western Region of Nigeria.

In the early 1960’s discussion of a new library building was introduced, and the DLS program continued to expand. Program for the preparation of directors for school libraries and for audio-visual services in elementary and secondary schools were approved. By the end of 1964, the DLS began to offer courses at the I.U. regional campuses. That same year discussions began on establishing a doctoral program in library science, which eventually led to the creation of a Graduate Library School in 1966 and a split between Library Science and the School of Education.

Rufsvold held the title of Dean for the newly created school for two months before relinquishing her administrative duties in order to teach full time. Charles H. McMullen served as acting dean from August 1966 through June 1967, when Bernard Fry was named to the post, a position he held until his retirement in 1980.

Library science is still taught at Indiana University, but in 1980 the name of the school was changed to the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS).