As a professional school with the state's only masters program in library and information science accredited by the American Library Association, the College of Library and Information Science has a special responsibility to its constituency, especially that within South Carolina. Quality teaching, professional leadership, scholarly activity, and service are fundamental to its mission. Quality teaching is listed as the first and most important component in this list of special responsibilities.
Effective teaching is the pivotal faculty function.
Having no doctoral level programs, the College offers the master's and specialist's degrees which prepare individuals for entry level and supervisory positions in a broad spectrum of libraries and other information agencies. Graduates and other professionals continue to call upon the College for advice and leadership. Members of the faculty assist these individuals in their continuing education and also work with them to carry out research which is beneficial to the state's library community. It is important, therefore, to note that scholarly activity which especially supports the College's service mission constitutes one of its important responsibilities. Library and information sciences are emerging disciplines with developing bodies of theory.