page_title: UNC School of Information and Library Science
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: UNC School of Information and Library Science / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Louis Round Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
context_page_description: The UNC School of Information and Library Science is a professional school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offering a bachelor's degree in information science, master's degrees in library science and information science, a professional science master's degree in digital curation, and a doctoral degree in information and library science as well as an undergraduate minor, graduate certificate programs, and a post-master's certificate.
  The school was founded by Louis Round Wilson and opened in the fall of 1931. Currently, the U.S. News & World Report ranks the School of Information and Library Science third among information and library science programs nationwide, as well as first in digital librarianship and health librarianship.
  Both professional degree programs in library science and information science are accredited by the American Library Association. The Master of Science in Library Science has maintained its ALA accreditation since 1934, and the Master of Science in Information Science program has maintained accreditation since its inception in 2000.
context_section_description: Library science classes were initially offered at UNC-Chapel Hill starting in 1904; however, the university would not offer library science as a major until 1931, when the School of Library Science opened its doors to welcome 37 students and five faculty members in Wilson Library, now named after Louis Round Wilson, the university's first librarian, the SILS' first dean, and advocate for library science at the university. The school opened in part because of a $100,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation given to the University to establish a school of library science. In 1932, the school was provisionally accredited by the ALA Board of Education for Librarianship, the same year that the first class of students would graduate from the school. Two years later, the school became fully accredited for undergraduate library training by the ALA Board of Education for Librarianship. 
  The Carnegie Corporation gave SILS another $100,000 grant in 1940. Starting in 1950, the school offered master's courses in library science leading the way for the university to approve the school's program, leading to the creation of the school's MSLS program.
  Two decades after the launch of its MSLS program, SILS moved out of its original home, Wilson Library, and into its current home, Manning Hall, the former home of the UNC School of Law.
  In 1974, the school began offering library services to the Environmental Protection Agency Library at Research Triangle Park.
  The school officially changed its name from the School of Library Science to the School of Information and Library Science in 1988 after a faculty vote in 1987, recognizing the growing role information management would have on society.
  Now, SILS offers an undergraduate major and minor, two master's of science degrees, professional science master's degrees, dual master's degrees with both their own undergraduate degree and other programs at the University, several graduate certificates, and a doctor of philosophy in information and library science. One of SILS' newest degrees, a professional science master's (PSM) in digital curation, is the first master's degree in the nation focused on digital curation and is offered entirely online.
  In the fall of 2017, SILS had 160 undergraduate students either pursuing a major in information science or a minor in information systems, with an additional 254 graduate students enrolled.
caption: Wilson Library, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
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