Simmons University School of Library and Information Science Graduate Programs

School of Library and Information Science

A powerful opportunity to educate, inform, and serve your community.

At Simmons, we pledge to help you achieve a successful career, engage in meaningful work, and earn a powerful return on your educational investment.

The Simmons School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) is big in many ways—we’re a national leader with top-rated faculty, prestigious alumni, and great locations in Boston and South Hadley, Massachusetts, with many of our programs offered on-campus and online. But like a small school, we also offer a learning experience that is highly collaborative and personal. You’ll have direct and frequent access to faculty who know your name and understand your aspirations. And you’ll work closely with classmates in an engaging, supportive classroom environment, be it face-to-face or online.

A degree from Simmons opens doors to a broad range of careers. Our alumni work as archivists, digital asset managers, specialists in literacy and children’s literature, reference librarians, rare book specialists, catalogers, preservation managers, web designers, publishers, information architects, medical and law librarians, knowledge managers, web developers, digital librarians, programmers, data analysts, and more.

The Simmons Advantage

• Nationally ranked by U.S.News & World Report (#11 overall, #1 in Archives, #7 in Services for Children and Youth, #9 in School Library Media, #13 in Digital Librarianship)

• Our MS is accredited by the American Library Association (ALA)

• We have been committed to helping students build exceptional careers in library and information science since 1902

• Faculty and alumni who are distinguished experts in their fields and who have held top leadership positions in professional associations

• A variety of options for experiential learning, ranging from in-class projects to semester-long internships and practicums to pre-professional opportunities

• Full- and part-time options, evening and weekend classes, blended and online courses

• One of the largest library and information science alumni networks, providing lifelong professional collaboration and support

• Two Massachusetts locations: the Simmons campus in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood and the SLIS West program at the Mount Holyoke College campus in South Hadley

Degrees Offered

Overview

Our Master of Science in Library and Information Science program offers the opportunity to customize your degree program. You can choose the Design-Your-Own option or choose to concentrate your studies in Archives Management, Cultural Heritage Informatics, Information Science and Technology, Libraries and Librarianship, or School Library Teacher. Our highly respected program consists of 36 credit hours and includes a core curriculum that provides a foundation of disciplinary knowledge in library and information science. The program can be completed entirely online, on-campus in Boston, or on-campus at SLIS West in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Students can also embark on a blended approach, combining online and face-to-face courses that meet their academic needs.

Library and Information Science

Library and Information Science: Design Your Own (MS)

If you have a range of interests, you can tailor your degree program to your professional needs by selecting courses from a robust catalog of electives. In this program, you complete 9 credit hours (3 courses) of core coursework in information organization, information services, and technology, and then work with a faculty advisor to select 27 credit hours (9 courses) of elective courses in areas of professional interest including youth services, reference and information services, public librarianship, management and leadership, and information organization.

LIS with Concentrations

Archives Management Concentration (MS)

The Archives Management concentration helps students gain knowledge in collecting, appraising, and preserving documents and materials found in manuscripts, moving images and photographs, oral history recordings, multimedia, government records, and literary correspondence. Because of our location in historic New England, we offer our students access to unique resources for study and research not found in other parts of the country. Our students go on to successful careers as processing, reference, digital asset, and preservationist archivists.

Cultural Heritage Informatics Concentration (MS)

This concentration focuses on the role of information and technology in cultural heritage institutions such as galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. These heritage institutions preserve the intellectual and cultural resources that are created by societies. If you are passionate about cultural heritage in all its forms, including rare books, manuscripts, archives, art objects, and all types of digital information, then this is the track of study for you.

Information Science and Technology Concentration (MS)

The IS&T concentration helps you develop skills and knowledge in information technology while building a strong understanding of human information behavior and the service orientation of library and information science. You’ll gain fundamental programming knowledge and skills in database design and application while becoming proficient in multiple areas of information science within the user-system continuum. This program is designed with an eye to creating or working in socio-technical environments that appreciate the diversity and complexity of today’s information settings.

Libraries and Librarianship Concentration (MS)

In this concentration, you will examine libraries as community-based socially and technologically engaged organizations and the role of librarians as reflective professionals dedicated to understanding, engaging with, and serving diverse communities and individuals. Students will apply professional standards, professional ethics, social justice practices, and best practices to develop, manage, and evaluate library collections, systems, and services appropriate to an identified information setting, institution, and community.

School Library Teacher Concentration (MS)

The SLT concentration is designed to support you in becoming a school library teacher in an elementary, middle, or high school. Our program is keenly aware of Curriculum Frameworks and the Common Core. During your time in this program, you will plan units and lessons with classroom teachers aimed at integrating the skills taught in the library with the work in the classroom. With exceptional faculty and professional mentors, students will engage in intellectually rigorous and stimulating coursework focused on instructional technologies used in today’s schools.

Dual Degrees

Children’s Literature (MA) + Library Services to Children (MS)

The Master of Arts in Children’s Literature and Master of Science in Library and Information Science dual-degree program offers a unique opportunity for synthesis and comparison of two distinct approaches to children’s literature, combining theoretical work with professional credentials. The children’s literature coursework addresses work produced for children and young adults within historical, critical, and theoretical context, and the library services to children coursework offers specialized literature and services courses to increase your familiarity with these materials with an eye towards professional youth services in libraries. The program consists of 58 to 60 credits, depending on the electives chosen.

Library and Information Science: Archives Management (MS) + History (MA)

Leading to both a Master of Science in Library and Information Science and a Master of Arts in History, this program prepares you for the increasing number of archival positions that require both technical training and historical knowledge. You’ll master skills in library and information science, archives management, historical methods, and research and history. The program consists of a total of 57 credit hours.

licensure. This certificate is minimum 12 credits (four courses). Faculty program directors will work with you to determine what courses will be needed based on previous education and experience.

Library and Information Science (PhD)

Post-Master’s in Archives Management (Certificate)

This certificate is for those who hold their MLS and desire further training in archives. The program prepares you to work in both digital and physical archives, as well as special collections and records management. Students come from varied work settings, such as public archives, colleges and universities, museums and cultural heritage sites, photographic and film collections, public libraries, foundations, government agencies, and corporations. This certificate is a total of fifteen credits (five courses).

Post Master’s in School Library Teacher (Certificate)

We offer two options depending on your previous graduate study: one for professionals who hold a master’s degree in library science and one for teachers who hold a master’s degree in education and initial or professional Massachusetts

Our PhD program is composed of a cohesive and collaborative cohort of students who are mentored from enrollment through completion of the dissertation. The program, available on our Boston campus and online, is unique in its guided preparation in the three areas of research, teaching, and service During the program, you will be able to research a variety of dissertation topics within library and information science as well as information professions. You’ll work closely with a faculty advisor to tailor the program to your interests and career goals.

Professors Who Practice What They Teach

SLIS students have access to some of the best minds in their fields and to classes brought to life by professors who take pride in being personal mentors to their students. Our faculty are actively engaged as librarians, archivists, and information professionals and many hold active roles in key library and archives professional organizations.

Learn more about our SLIS faculty: simmons.edu/slis-faculty

Teaching at Simmons allows me to learn from and with students, and I want to impart to them that they will be professionals in the field with the ability to make changes.”

REBECCA DAVIS ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SCHOOL OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

Simmons values teaching—this means that every day, I am able to focus on my students as I bring my professional experience and research interests in library instruction, information literacy, and intellectual freedom into the classroom.”

LAURA SAUNDERS DIRECTOR, SCHOOL OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

Internships & Outcomes

Internships

Students gain hands-on skills and résumé-building opportunities through internships, practicums, site visits, and pre-professional positions with SLIS partners in Massachusetts, across New England, and throughout the country.

• Boston Book Festival

• Boston Public Library

• Cambridge School District

• Harvard University

• John F. Kennedy Presidential Library

• Massachusetts Historical Society

• Museum of Fine Arts

• Newton School District

• Penguin Publishing

• Simmons University Archives

Careers

Our graduates go on to work in a variety of settings and positions, such as:

• Adult services librarian

• Cataloging and acquisition librarian

• Children’s librarian

• Data assets manager

• Database editor

• Digital curator

• Digital initiatives librarian

• Emerging technologies librarian

• Legal information librarian

• Medical librarian

• Metadata librarian

• Public librarian

• School librarian and media specialist

• University archivist

Notable Alumni

For more than 100 years, our graduates have been pioneers in their professions, recognized for their amazing achievements and remarkable careers, throughout New England, the country, and around the world.

• Tom Blake ‘06MS, Content Discovery Manager at the Boston Public Library; received 2015 Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC) award

• Kimberley Bugg ’17PhD, Chief for Humanities and Social Sciences Division of Library of Congress

• Jo Cates ‘84MS, Library Director at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago

• Tamar Evangelestia-Dougherty ’03MS, Director of Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

• David Ferriero ’74MS, 10th Archivist of the United States

• Maura Marx ‘04MS, former Deputy Director, Institute of Museum and Library Services; currently President of Fidelity Foundations in Salem, New Hampshire

• Jane Sánchez ‘76MS, 25th Law Librarian of Congress, Library of Congress

• Sarah Thomas ’73MS, Vice President of Harvard Library

• Courtney Young ‘07MS, University Librarian at Colgate University; President of the American Library Association, 2014-2015

Student Associations and Support Groups

Simmons SLIS offers a range of support and professional student organizations including student chapters of national associations. The relationships made as students continue on into a close-knit and vital professional network of over 10,000 graduates.

• Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) Student Chapter

• American Library Association Student Chapter (ALASC)

• American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST)

• Children’s Literature Advisory Board

• Library and Information Science Student Association (LISSA)

• Massachusetts School Librarian Association Student Group (MSLA)

• Panopticon (Art Librarian Interest Group)

• Progressive Librarians Guild (PLG)

• Student Chapter of the Society of American Archivists (SCoSAA)

• Special Libraries Association Student Chapter (SLASC)

• Spectra (LGBTQ+ group)

• Student Chapter of ALA International Relations Round Table (SCIRRT)

• Students of Color @ Simmons School of Library and Information Science (SoCS)

• User Experience Professional Association (UXPA)

gave me an understanding of the organization of library materials that has allowed me to be a much more efficient library professional and helped me understand where information organization fails us and where it can be improved.”

MAYA BERGAMASCO ’19MS FACULTY RESEARCH & SCHOLARLY SUPPORT LIBRARIAN, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL LIBRARY

Boston

By many accounts, Boston is the nation’s best college town, and it is also an international library capital. We have the largest number of libraries of any region in the world, and Simmons students get to use these great resources every day. Since 1807, the Boston Athenaeum has been one of the world’s most distinguished independent libraries and in 1848, the Boston Public Library became the first publicly supported large, urban library in the nation, introducing the revolutionary

concept of book borrowing. Today, the BPL and the Athenaeum are joined by an astonishing array of libraries and library organizations, both historic and hightech, including the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners, which oversees the maintenance and development of library services for all residents of the Commonwealth, including a robust program of regional services and statewide electronic services.

Western Massachusetts

Our SLIS West campus is located in South Hadley in the Pioneer Valley, a region renowned for its natural beauty as well as its intellectual and cultural vibrancy. Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst are all nearby, as well as many libraries, archives, art galleries, and museums. The towns of Amherst and Northampton, both reachable by free shuttle bus, offer a combination of cosmopolitan sophistication and small-town charm.

Fenway Park

Shops at Landmark Center

Whole Foods

Museum of Fine Arts Huntington Avenue

Boylston Street

The Fens

Longwood Medical AreaIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Application Information

Apply

Apply at simmons.edu/graduate-apply.

Admission Requirements

All applicants are required to submit official transcripts, current resumes, and a statement of purpose. To learn more about specific admission requirements and deadlines by program and for transfer and international students, please visit our website at simmons.edu/slis-admission

Tuition and Fees

Tuition and fees vary across program and concentration. For more details, visit simmons.edu/slis-tuition

Contact Us

Please contact SLIS admission at 617521-2868 or slisadm@simmons.edu if you have questions about the application process, a program, or the school.

Visit

The best way to get a feel for our graduate programs and the community is to visit our campus. The admission office offers a variety of visit options to suit your needs:

• Frequent information sessions at all of our campuses, as well as online

• Personal visits, including informational interviews with faculty, tours, an opportunity to speak with a graduate student ambassador, and the option to sit in on a class

For information session dates and all visit requests, check our website: simmons.edu/slis-visit or contact us.

The diversity of professional experiences and the shared passion for teaching that my professors bring to the classroom is preparing me to lead with confidence in my own career.”

JOHNNA PURCHASE ‘24MS/MA

“