Dean Marshall speaks at 100th anniversary of her alma mater

SILS Dean Joanne Gard Marshall was the keynote speaker at the centennial celebration of her alma mater, the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies at McGill University in Montreal.

Marshall, who earned her master's degree in library science form the school, gave a speech, “Past, Present and Future of Library and Information Studies,” at the May 15 event. Dr. Jamshid Beheshti, director of the school, called the speech “provocative, visionary and inspiring.”

The celebration also featured a panel discussion with Peter McNally, a professor in the school and director of the History of McGill project; Lise Bisonnette, president and chief executive officer of the National Library of Quebec; and Dr. Anthony Masi, deputy provost and chief information officer of McGill University.

When it was founded by Charles Gould in 1904, the McGill School was the first formal library education program in Canada and one of the first university programs in librarianship in the world. Gould's friend and colleague, Melvyl Dewey, was instrumental in the founding of the school and the establishment of its curriculum.

In 1931, the bachelor of library science program became the first in Canada to be accredited as a graduate school by the American Library Association. In 1965, McGill introduced a two-year master of library science program, replacing the one-year bachelor of library science program. The program provided a new pattern for library education that became the Canadian standard and has been adopted by many schools in the United States and Canada .

The school now offers a master's degree in library science, a graduate certificate, a graduate diploma and a doctoral degree.