Public Library Certification

Public Libraries are an evolving and vital part of our society, and SLIS graduates hold numerous leadership positions in public libraries across the country. The American Library Association website has quotable facts about libraries. They state that "there are more public libraries than McDonald's - a total of 16,220, including branches." [2008] Public libraries offer opportunities for creative careers. The Master of Library Science meets the certification requirements by most states. Below are the requirements for Indiana.

Indiana Public Library Certification: Levels I-V

Students who desire certification for positions in Indiana public libraries must meet the requirements established by the State Library Certification Board. For complete information, contact the Indiana Library Certification Board, Indiana State Library, 140 N. Senate, Indianapolis, IN 46204, toll free: (800)451-6028.

The board lists two kinds of education in determining the grade of certificate granted:
Accredited library education is described as completion of graduate study in an accredited program and validated by a diploma. This level relates to the higher grades of certification: Librarian I, II, or III. Librarian I and II levels have experience as well as educational components. Librarian III is the minimum grade for heads of libraries serving populations of 10,001 to 25,000 and for comparable positions as determined by the library certification board. The Master of Library Science degree from Indiana University meets this requirement.

Approved library education is defined as elementary instruction in library science taken after completion of a prescribed period of undergraduate education. Approved library education requires specified amounts of study in library science and relates to the lower grades of Indiana library certificates. Two levels of approved education are recognized:

• Intermediate library education requires a bachelor's degree and at least 15 credit hours of library science courses. This meets the requirements for Librarian IV, which is the minimum grade for heads of libraries serving populations of 5,001 to 10,000 and for comparable positions as determined by the library certification board. The following courses at Indiana University meet the intermediate library education requirement for Librarian IV: S504 (L520) - Cataloging, S501 (L524) - Reference, S551 (L527) - Library Management, S502 (L528) - Collection Development and Management, S571 (L533) - Materials for Youth.
• Minimum library education requires at least two years of undergraduate education and at least 9 credit hours of library science courses. This meets the Librarian V level, which is the minimum grade for heads of libraries serving populations of 5,000 or fewer and for comparable positions as required by the library certification board. The following courses at Indiana University meet the minimum library education requirement for Librarian V: S501 (L524) - Reference, S551 (L527) - Library Management, S502 (L528) - Collection Development and Management.

Students wishing to meet Indiana Public Library certification requirements for Librarian III must meet all requirements for and be admitted to the MLS degree program. To pursue Librarian IV or V levels with Indiana University, students must be admitted to one of our graduate programs. (Students can take up to 6 credit hours and our pre-requisite course S401 (L401) - Computer-Based Information Tools prior to admission as a SLIS non-degree student.) Contact our office with questions: SLIS Bloomington (812)855-2018 or tollfree (888)335-7547. Our SLIS Indianapolis program offers interactive video courses to pursue public library certification at certain sites within the state of Indiana (click here for details).

Continuing Education Requirements - Indiana

Effective Summer 2008, there are updated Continuing Education requirements for public library professionals in the State of Indiana managed by the Indiana State Library. The Indiana Library Federation (the state chapter of the American Library Association) is actively involved. SLIS (both in Bloomington and Indianapolis) will work towards helping provide course options.

One option for continuing education is to register as a SLIS Graduate Non-Degree student. Students may take SLIS-S401 (a pre-requisite course for the MLS), and six credit hours as a SLIS Graduate Non-Degree Student. These courses could count towards the MLS if later admitted (and if within the 5 year time frame for the degree).

Apply Online - and select SLIS Graduate Non-Degree. Contact Us if you have any questions.