Graduate Certificate in Urban Librarianship

The 15-credit Urban Librarianship certificate program provides students with the education and practical experience necessary to effectively serve patrons with widely diverse economic, social and cultural needs. Students gain specialized knowledge of diversity, multicultural information, and urban issues through course work and exposure to a wide variety of urban library settings. Students will gain practical knowledge of how to develop programs and services to meet the challenging information needs of an urban populace. The certificate provides verification of the graduate’s skills and thus enables an employer to clearly identify potential employees with the appropriate knowledge and abilities to provide high quality services and resources to the citizens of their community.

Potential candidates for the Urban Librarianship Certificate include incoming LIS graduate students wishing to pursue a professional career in urban library settings; practicing library staff who wish to advance their competency in the field of urban librarianship; and students from other disciplines and professions who wish to obtain an MLIS with a specialization in urban library management.

The certificate may be completed in conjunction with the MLIS degree or as a post-MLIS certificate. The 15-credit Urban Librarianship Certificate program includes 9 credits of required coursework and 6 credits of a required practicum that rotates students through partner organizations under the mentorship of senior librarians.

Note: Students without an MLIS must complete LIS 6010, 6080, 6120, 6210 and 7040 to be eligible to apply for the Urban Librarianship certificate program. Students should review the School's Certificate Policy.

All students in the Urban Librarianship Certificate will receive in-state tuition.

Please note that the Urban Librarianship Certificate is not available to students in the Online MLIS Program. 

Before enrolling in the certificate program, students must meet the program's technology requirements. 

Beginning Spring/Summer 2012, SLIS is accepting applications for enrollment in the Fall 2012 Urban Librarianship Certificate cohort. The Urban Librarianship Certificate is contingent upon SLIS receiving a sufficient number of applications to meet campus-based cohort enrollment requirements.