Mission and History

Our Mission

SILS educates innovative and responsible thinkers who will lead the information professions; discovers principles and impacts of information; creates systems, techniques, and policies to advance information processes and services; and advances information creation, access, use, management, and stewardship to improve the quality of life for diverse local, national, and global communities.

Our History

Although students could not earn a degree in library science until almost three decades later, library education began at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1904 when Dr. Louis Round Wilson began offering summer school classes.

In 1929, just as the new library building was finished on UNC's campus, Wilson wrote an article on the “Library in Modern Education,” saying:

As part of the program of social welfare now being worked out at Chapel Hill, a library school is needed, where librarians, like lawyers and doctors and teachers, may secure expert professional training. With its magnificent new building as a laboratory for the school, such an institution would not only be in harmony with the program on which the University has embarked, it would offer opportunity through the sending out of trained librarians for the South to tap the vast reservoir of human knowledge.

The UNC School of Library Science opened at Chapel Hill in the fall of 1931 with a class of 37 students and five faculty members, including Dr. Wilson. The Carnegie Corporation provided a $100,000 grant to enable the School to operate for three years and make permanent its conditional accreditation from the American Library Association (ALA).

In 1987, recognizing the growing importance of the study of information use and management, the faculty voted to revise the curriculum and change the School's name to become the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS).

Explore our history in more detail by reading short biographies of our deans and directors, scrolling through the timeline, or clicking to a specific time period linked below.

1901-1919 ›› 1920-1939 ›› 1940-1959 ›› 1960-1979 ›› 1980-1999 ›› 2000-2009 ›› 2010-2020

1901

1904

  • The University offers its first courses in library science during the summer terms, for a five dollar fee. Students who completed the course received a certificate

1906

  • The University offers courses in library science during regular school term.

1909

  • The University grants credit for courses in library science.

1912

  • Enrollment in summer courses warrants a visiting instructor in library science at UNC-Chapel Hill. Miss Minnie W. Leaterman, Secretary of the N.C. Library Commission, is brought in to teach.

1915

  • The University allows graduate credit to students for a course in bibliography.

1922

  • Dr. Wilson, in his Annual Report of the Librarian, proposes that the University offer summer courses for school and city librarians.

1923

  • Dr. Wilson proposes in his annual report that the University consider establishing a school of library science.

1925

  • Dr. Wilson appointed chairman of American Library Association (ALA) Board of Education for Librarianship.

1926

  • In his annual report, Dr. Wilson “strongly urges” the establishment of a school of library science at UNC.

1929

  • The Carnegie Corporation grants $100,000 to the University for the establishment of a school of library science. University leaders announce the five-year grant and plans for a school at the dedication ceremonies for the newly completed University Library building in October.

1931

  • School of Library Science classes begin  on September 17.
  • The first faculty consiste of five individuals: Director Louis Round Wilson, Susan Grey Akers, Nora Beust, Robert Downs and Donald Coney (assistant director). They were joined the next year by Lucile Kelling.

1932

  • School provisionally accredited as a Type II (graduate) library school by the Board of Education for Librarianship of the ALA in March.
  • First class of students graduates on June 7.
  • Dr. Wilson resigns as librarian and school director to become dean of the University of Chicago Graduate Library School.
  • Susan Grey Akers becomes the second woman and the fourth person in the United States to earn a PhD in library science when she graduates from the University of Chicago Graduate Library School.
  • Akers named acting director of the School of Library Science.
  • The consolidation of the library programs at Greensboro and Chapel Hill became Akers first task. The program at Greensboro was succesfully combined with the program at Chapel Hill.

1934

  • School fully accredited for both Type II and Type III (undergraduate) library training by the Board of Education for Librarianship of the ALA in March.
  • School admitted to membership in the Association of American Library Schools in December.

1935

  • School begins offering its regular courses in consecutive summer terms so that students may earn an AB in library science by attendance during summer sessions only.
  • Susan Grey Akers named director of the School.
  • Alumni association formed as the North Carolina Library School Association and offers first tuition scholarship to a student in the School.

1937

  • University assumes financial support of the School with state funds.

1939

  • N.C. General Assembly authorizes establishment of a professional school in library science at the North Carolina College for Negroes in Durham (now North Carolina Central University). Dr. Akers agrees to help program get started and serves as dean/director of both schools until Oct. 1946.

1940

  • Carnegie Corporation gives the School a second $100,000 grant.

1941

  • Akers appointed dean, becoming the first woman at UNC-Chapel Hill to be granted that title and authority. 
  • Type III undergraduate curriculum discontinued due to lack of demand.
  • Degree granted by the School changed from Bachelor of Arts in Library Science to Bachelor of Science in Library Science.

1942

  • Dr. Wilson retires as dean at Chicago and returns to UNC-Chapel Hill as a consultant and part-time professor.

1946

  • Hazel Shiring named librarian of the school.

1947

  • University approves proposed Master of School Librarianship program in December 10. The first students enter the program in 1950.

1948

  • Dr. Wilson retires as consultant and part-time professor.

1950

  • School offers first courses leading to master's degree of school librarianship.
  • School moves to Old Filter Plant for 1950-51 academic year during construction of addition to the University Library building.

1951

  • University approves school's program leading to Master of Science in Library Science degree on March 8.
  • Alumni association establishes Susan Grey Akers Scholarship.
  • School moves into the new west wing of the library building in September.
  • Dr. Wilson returns as visiting professor to teach two courses in the MSLS program.

1953

  • School celebrates first Alumni Day on April 17.
  • School presents first candidates for MSLS degree in June.

1954

  • Dean Akers retires after 23 years as member of the faculty, including three years as acting director, six years as director, and 13 years as dean.
  • Lucile Kelling (Henderson) appointed dean.

1955

  • School's administrative board approves abandonment of the Bachelor of Science in Library Science degree.

1956

  • University's library named in honor of Dr. Wilson.
  • Margaret Allman named librarian for the school.

1957

  • ALA accredits school under its 1951 revised standards.

1958

  • North Carolina chapter of Beta Phi Mu installed on May 3.
  • Faculty votes to discontinue master of school librarianship program.

1960

  • Dean Lucile Kelling Henderson retires.
  • Carlyle J. Frarey becomes acting dean of the school.

1963

  • Under Frarey's leadership, school introduces revised curriculum, moving from 48 semester hours to 36 semester hours. A master's paper is introduced instead of a formal thesis.
  • Ruth E. Stone is named librarian.

1964

1967

1968

  • Law School moves out of Manning Hall.

1969

  • Manning Hall renovations begin.

1970

  • Dean Walter Sedelow resigns to join faculty of Univesity of Kansas at Lawrence.
  • Raymond L. Carpenter, Jr. becomes acting dean in on July 1.
  • School moves into Manning Hall one day before fall registration in September.

1972

  • Edward G. Holley becomes dean on January 1.
  • Carol Nielsen named librarian of the school.
  • First issue of “News from Chapel Hill” alumni newsletter published in November.

1973

  • Margaret E. Kalp appointed school's first assistant dean. 
  • Page Ackerman, UCLA Librarian, named school's first UNC Distinguished Alumna.

1974

  • School begins providing library services for EPA Library in Research Triangle Park  on May 6.
  • Holley inaugurated as 91st president of the American Library Association in New York City on July 12.
  • School introduces revised master's program, with a new 12-hour block of basic material required of all students.

1975

  • Dr. Lester E. Asheim joins the faculty as school's first William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor to lead planning for a Ph.D. program.

1976

  • Carlyle J. Frarey dies on March 13.
  • Louis Round Wilson celbrates 100th birthday on December 27.

1977

  • Assistant dean Margaret E. Kalp retires. 
  • Jean Freeman, longtime assistant to the dean, retires.
  • Fred Roper named assistant dean.
  • First doctoral students admitted: Jo Ann Cell, Arlen T. Dowell, David P. Jensen, T. Brian Nielsen, Delmus E. Williams.

1978

  • Former acting dean Margaret E. Kalp dies on April 26.

1979

  • Dr. Wilson dies at the age of 102 on December 10.
  • The school begins an off-campus program leading tothe MSLS degree in Portsmouth, Virginia.  Students take two thirds of their courses in Virginia and one third (the Block) in Chapel Hill.  The program, developed at teh trequest of school administrators in Portsmouth, is under the direction of Dr. Marilyn L. Miller. 

1980

  • Jo Ann Hardison Bell becomes school's first doctoral degree recipient on May 11.

1981

  • School celebrates its 50th anniversary with four days of seminars, reports, and social events (March 25-28).
  • School's first  first Distinguished Alumni Award are made to: Herman Howe Fussler, Emerson Greenaway, Mary Elizabeth Poole, William Stevens Powell, Mary Eunice Query.

1982

  • Fred W. Roper named associate dean.
  • Herman Howe Fussler named school's second UNC Distinguished Alumnus.

1984

  • Dean Susan Grey Akers dies.
  • Elizabeth J. “Lib” Laney appointed School Librarian in November.

1985

  • Dr. Evelyn H. Daniel becomes dean on July 1.
  • Library History Seminar VII was held on March 6-8 in Chapel Hill.  It was sponsored by the Journal of Library History, the UNC-CH School of Library Science and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Texas at Austin.  One hundred fifty librarians and scholars attend from 29 stateis and three foreign countries.

1986

  • Associate dean Roper resigns to become dean of the College of Library and Information Science at the University of South Carolina.

1987

  • Dr. Barbara B. Moran becomes assistant dean on July 1.

1988

  • Name change to School of Information and Library Science (SILS) becomes official.
  • School introduces post-graduate Certificate of Advanced Study (CAS) degree.
  • School celebrates 15 years of providing library services to EPA Library.

1989

  • Dr. Holley named school's second William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor.

1990

  • Dr. Barbara Moran becomes dean on July 1.
  • Dr. Jerry D. Saye becomes assistant dean on July 1.
  • OCLC Founder Frederick G. Kilgour appointed Distinguished Research Professor.
  • Lester Asheim Scholarship Fund endowed with $30,000.

1991

  • Dr. Fred Roper, former associate dean of SILS and current dean of the University of South Carolina College of Library and Information Science, presents first Lucile Kelling Henderson Lecture on April 19.
  • Librarian Elizabeth J. “Lib” Laney retires on June 30 and graduate Gillian M. Debreczeny becomes new SILS Librarian on December 15.

1992

  • SILS uses Alumni Day on May 1 to celebrate 60th anniversary of the School's founding.

1993

  • SILS offers first Oxford seminar, “English Libraries and Librarianship,” May 23-June 5 with Dr. Holley serving as academic adviser.
  • SILS' newly created Board of Visitors meets for the first time in November.

1994

  • Dr. Jerry Saye appointed associate dean on July 1.
  • Frances Carroll McColl Professorship established with $250,000 gift from Hugh L. and Jane Spratt McColl.
  • SILS celebrates 20 years of partnership with EPA.

1996

  • Dr. Helen Tibbo named assistant dean on July 1.
  • SunSITE moves from basement of Phillips Hall to second-floor lab in Manning Hall.
  • Professor Dr. William M. Shaw Jr. named first McColl Professor.

1997

  • Dr. Susan Steinfirst, retired professor, dies of cancer at the age of 56 on March 7. A lecture fund is later established in her name.
  • SILS celebrates 65th anniversary with day of presentations and activities on April 25.
  • First three recipients of SILS undergraduate minor graduate from Carolina.
  • Dr. Stephanie Haas receives SILS' first Outstanding Award for Teaching Excellence.

1998

1999

  • Dr. Joanne Gard Marshall becomes dean on January 1.
  • SILS ties for #1 in U.S. News & World Report rankings of top graduate schools in the field in March.
  • SILS' Interaction Design Laboratory (IDL) holds open house on March 26.
  • Picnic held to celebrate 25-year partnership with EPA Library.
  • SILS hosts its first mid-year commencement ceremony in Wilson Library's Pleasants Family Assembly Room December 18.

2000

  • SILS becomes first school to have its MSIS program accredited for a full seven years by the ALA. The MSLS program, continually accredited since 1934, also receives a full accreditation.
  • Associate Professor Dr. Paul Solomon becomes associate dean on July 1.
  • Gillian Debreczeny retires as SILS Librarian on July 31.
  • Thanks in part to a $4 million gift from Red Hat Center, Metalab (the former SunSITE) becomes ibiblio.org, “the public's library” on September 11.
  • School honors past and current assistant/associate deans at special ceremony on September 29.
  • SILS holds “Open Information Week” October 16-20.
  • Dean Marshall featured on cover of Library Journal, November 15.

2001

  • SILS announces introduction of dual master's degree programs with Kenan-Flagler Business School and the School of Public Health.
  • Rebecca Vargha joins staff as the new SILS Librarian on August 1.
  • School kicks off 70th anniversary celebration with John Vaughn's appearance as Henderson Lecturer on October 8.

2002

2003

  • Classes begin for newly-approved Bachelor of Science in Information Science (BSIS) undergraduate degree program.
  • Dual-degree programs begin with the School of Nursing, art department, and School of Government.
  • Cooperative international program in information management begins with institutions in Singapore and Denmark.
  • School begins certificate program in bioinformatics and offers school library media certification through distance education.
  • 25th anniversary of the doctoral program.

2004

2005

  • EPA Library and SILS celebrates 30 year partnership.
  • The Knowledge Trust and Louis Round Wilson Academy are formed on October 6.

2006

  • SILS is once again ranked #1 by U.S. News and World Report in the magazine’s 2007 edition of “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”
  • UNC Library and SILS join the Open Content Alliance.
  • SILS hosts the 6th annual ACM/IEEE 2006 Joint Conference on Digital Libraries (JCDL).
  • Frederick Kilgour, founder of the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), and distinguished research professor, dies in August at age 92.
  • SILS celebrates its 75th anniversary with the theme, “Illuminating the Past, Imagining the Future” on September 18.

2007

  • SILS hosts Evidence-based Practice Conference in May.
  • School observes the grand finale of its 75th anniversary on September 17.
  • SILS presented with Joint Resolution 249 by the North Carolina House of Representatives.
  • ibiblio receives North Carolina Certificate of Acknowledgement and Congratulations.
  • SILS hosts the National Historic Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) Electronic Records Research Symposium on November 1.

2008

  • SILS is one of the first universities worldwide to work with YouTube to offer UNC-produced content.
  • World-renowned Data Intensive Cyber Environments (DICE) group joins SILS.
  • Dr. Evelyn Daniel appointed associate dean of academic affairs. 
  • Dr. Gary Marchionini elected president of ASIS&T.

2009

  • SILS hosts the fourth annual iConference on February 8 - 11 with the theme, "iSociety: Research, Education, Engagement."
  • SILS hosts the second DigCCurr 2009: Digital Curation Practice, Promise and Prospects conference on April 1-3.
  • Dr. Helen Tibbo elected president of the Society of American Archivists.
  • Dr. Barbara B. Moran appointed interim dean on May 1.
  • School ranked #1 by U.S. News and World Report in the magazine’s 2010 edition of “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”
  • SILS institutes the Edward G. Holley for the Good of the Order Award.

2010

  • Edward Holley, dean emeritus and former William Rand Kenan Jr. professor, a giant in the library world, dies in February at age 82.
  • Dr. Gary Marchionini appointed dean on April 1.
  • SILS begins international summer seminar to London.
  • Dr. Helen Tibbo appointed Alumni Distinguished Professor on July 1.
  • Dr. Barbara Moran appointed first Louis Round Wilson Distinguished Professor on July 1.
  • Dr. Barbara Wildemuth appointed associate dean of academic affairs on July 1.
  • SILS is the lead partner in establishing the Carolina Health Informatics Program (CHIP).

2011

  • Six offices acquired on the first floor of Manning Hall in August.
  • The LifeTime Library first offered to incoming class in August.
  • SILS kicks off the 80th anniversary celebration with a tailgate picnic on the front lawn of Manning Hall on September 17, the Henderson Lecture featuring Dr. Fred Roper on September 23, an open house on September 24, and the Steinfirst Lecture September 25.
  • UNC students, faculty, and staff gather for the dedication of 10 new homes constructed over the past year as part of the Habitat for Humanities Build-A-Block project (Sept. 18).
  • SILS Dean Gary Marchionini receives the Award of Merit, the highest honor presented by the American Society of Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T).

2012

2013

  • SILS acquires the ground level of Manning Hall when the Odum Institute moves to its new location in Davis Library.
  • SILS Alumni Inclusion and Diversity (SAID) Committee launches Nov. 14, 2013, homecoming weekend.
  • First webpage is "rediscovered" on SILS Professor Paul Jones' NeXT Cube and ibiblio.

2014

  • SILS awarded largest contract in its history to continue operating the EPA Library for five more years.
  • BitCurator project announces the release of BitCurator 1.0, a free and open-source digital forensics software environment for libraries, archives, and museums (LAMs) to acquire and process born-digital materials.
  • SILS Library hosts first Edible Book Contest.

2015

  • SILS celebrates its 40-year partnership with the EPA Library on April 11 with a reception for current and former interns, staff, and faculty.
  • SILS and the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science co-present the 12th International Conference on Digital Preservation (iPRES) Nov. 2-6 in Chapel Hill.
  • SILS sponsors its first Project Fair to showcase work and research by its undergraduate and master's students.

2016

  • The Susan Steinfirst Memorial Lecture in Children's Literature is expanded to include the Steinfirst Artist-in-Residency Program.
  • The first annual ACM SIGIR Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval (CHIIR 2016) is held March 13-17 in Chapel Hill.
  • SILS and the UNC Curriculum for the Environment and Ecology partner to create a dual-degree program in Environmental Informatics.
  • Professor Javed Mostafa named editor of the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST). 
  • SILS announces a commitment by Charles B. Lowry (MSLS ’74) and Marcia Duncan Lowry to establish the Duncan-Lowry Deanship at SILS on October 16. The commitment is the largest in SILS' history and the first at Carolina to be designated for a deanship.

2017

  • The Carolina Health Informatics Program (CHIP) launches its PhD in Health Informatics.
  • SILS and the UNC School of Media and Journalism co-sponsor a half-day conference titled, “What Should We Be Worried About?: Information and Media in the Trump Era” (March 31).
  • Professor Sandra Hughes-Hassell elected President of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) 
  • SILS and the UNC Parr Center for Ethics co-sponsor the first Symposium on Information for Social Good (April 21).
  • Applications open for SILS' new Professional Science Master's Degree in Digital Curation. The 100% online program is the first of its kind in the U.S.
  • SILS takes over sponsorship of the Community Workshop Series.

2018

  • SILS ties for the #1 program in the world in the 2018 QS Rankings.
  • The University recognizes Susan Grey Akers as one of 19 Bridge Builders and names an undergraduate scholarship in her honor. 
  • The Carolina Health Informatics Program (CHIP) and UnitedHealth launch a partnership to train and diversify next generation of health data experts through project ENABLE. N.C. Governor Roy Cooper attends an event to publically announce the program, which draws widespread news coverage.
  • Professor Christopher “Cal” Lee named editor of The American Archivist. 
  • SILS launches a new website, designed to be more mobile-friendly.

2019

2020