FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 6, 2002
CONTACT: Dan Roland (800) 552-4770
BY: Dan Roland

Master of Library Science classes to begin in Utah, summer of 2003 - EMPORIA, KS

The School of Library and Information Management (SLIM), Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas is currently accepting applications for its Master of Library Science (MLS) degree program to be offered in Salt Lake City starting in the summer of 2003. The MLS degree is the qualifying requirement for most all professional positions in public, academic, corporate, and school libraries and information centers.

With one of the highest median ages of any occupation (47 years old), librarianship is a career with a frequent need to replenish itself. Additionally, the Monthly Labor Review estimates that the industry most affected by baby-boomer retirements is educational services. While the impact of retirement varies depending on geography and library type, the crunch is being felt across the country.

More than 125,000 librarians now work in academic, school and public libraries across the country. Many librarians come to the profession as a second or third career, which accounts in part for the high median age of librarians. When asked why they made the switch, these career changers cite everything from the thrill of the hunt for information to a desire to "give back" and connect people with free resources to a desire to streamline and improve research methods.

The Kansas school offers its MLS curriculum in Utah at the invitation of the Utah State Library Division and classes are held at the Library Division location of 250 N 1950 W. This is the only local Master of Library Science degree program in the state of Utah. The program is designed for the non-traditional student as classes meet on weekends about fourteen weekends per year. SLIM faculty travel from Kansas to Salt Lake City to teach on Friday evenings, all day Saturday, and Sunday mornings. Each class meets for two weekends about one month a part. The degree requires forty-two semester credit hours and students take four to six credit hours per semester. Students starting the program this summer will graduate from the program in December of 2005. The program runs in a cycle of eight semesters and does not offer continuous enrollment. Interested persons who do not enroll for the summer 2003 program will have to wait until it is finished before the next program will start in 2006. Two groups of Utah students have previously graduated from the program, in 1999 and this past June 2002.

SLIM has offered its MLS program in states without a local program since 1987 and more than 700 students have earned their MLS degree through this program without ever needing to attend the Kansas campus. The program is accredited by the American Library Association and the school is the oldest operating school for library and information management in the western half of the country.

For more information and to obtain an application packet, please call the school at 1-800-552-4770 or send e-mail to sliminfo@emporia.edu. The local representative for the school is Ms. Pamela Foster, 801-486-8047 or pfoster@sisna.com. The school website is http://slim.emporia.edu.

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