Information and Library Science, School of

Information and Library Science, School of

The university began offering courses in library science as early as 1904, as part of the summer school, and added them to the regular curriculum a few years later. Librarian Louis Round Wilson was an early proponent of professional library training and spoke often about the need for a library school on campus. Wilson's advocacy increased in the 1920s, and the university agreed to add the new program. In 1931, supported by a grant from the Carnegie Foundation, UNC began offering classes in the School of Library Science, with Wilson as the director. The school was located in the new University Library (now Wilson Library). Wilson was succeeded after a few years by Susan Grey Akers, one of the original faculty members. When her title was changed to dean in 1941, Akers became the first woman to hold an academic deanship at the university.

The school moved to Manning Hall in 1970 after the building was vacated by the law school. In 1988 the name was changed to the School of Information and Library Science, and in 1999 it was ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the top library and information science graduate program in the country.