Careers in Library Science
Course Information
Internship Description
This course introduces undergraduates to professional librarianship with special emphasis on an academic library setting. Students focus on central professional elements of librarianship (professional practice, professional service, and professional scholarship) in different settings and balances the work experience with the study library's role in current culture and academic environments. Other types of libraries covered include but are not limited to public libraries, k12 libraries and special libraries. This internship should be approved by each student’s advisor to ensure credit in their own major course work.
By the end of this course, students will gain an understanding of librarianship basics, learn about different ways to work in the library profession, present on a topic of their choice and create a polished resume that could be used for graduate school applications.
Course Overview
- Description: By the end of this course, you should be able to broadly understand what librarianship can include, speak about a library centric topic of your choice for a short amount of time, and
- Course Distribution - Students participate in weekly online seminars that include reading and responding, discussion, and guest presenters. Assignments include a variety of in-class participation activities, an annotated bibliography and a final brief oral presentation. There is no final examination. In addition, students complete 30 hours of work in connection to the USC Upstate library under the guidance of a library professional workplace supervisor. Students must log their experience hours periodically throughout the semester.
- Time Contributed (135 hours) -
- 100 Hours: Attending class lectures, participating in readings, creating an annotated bibliography, preparing a presentation, and all matters of participating in class projects.
- 35 Hours: Dedicated internship project hours that are logged and submitted through the internship log hours form.
Required Resources
This is a Zero Textbook Cost course. All resources will be freely available through either open course materials or via the USC Upstate Library.
-
Fall 2025 Internship Syllabus
Although our material is flexible to change, by reviewing this document, students may get an idea of all the experiences and topics covered during our course time.
Prepare for job market; Services
-
Engages around library service topics, participating in discussion posts, shadowing library professionals on the job. Researches job posts, learns about job market and drafts polished resume
-
Assessed by uploading resume assignment.
Develop an awareness of Library Professional Opportunities; Experiences
-
Learns library professionals during guest lectures, visiting and interviewing other library professionals if appropriate.
-
Assessed through discussion board prompts and responses.
Effectively research and present on a Library Trending Topic; Research
-
Choose a trending library-centric topic, research in the library databases, and draft an annotated bibliography. Trending topics are learned during lectures.
-
Assessed by submitting a short annotated bibliography, and conducting one short presentation on topic of choice.
Possible Projects
- Library H3lp (Observe)
- In-person Deselection Project
- Blog Post Creation
- Schedule time to Shadow a Library professional in person
Research Topics
-
Cultural Humility in Library Work
“Cultural competence means we’ve been educated about other cultures, humility is how we should be practicing that competence in the field.” So writes social worker Sarah Elizabeth, who blogs at RootedInBeing and got this conversation going.
-
The Five Laws of Library Science and Modern Libraries
The 5 Laws of Library Science is a theory proposed by S. R. Ranganathan in 1931, detailing the principles of operating a library system. Five laws of library science are called the set of norms, percepts, and guides to good practice in librarianship. Many librarians worldwide accept them as the foundations of their philosophy. Dr. S.R. Ranganathan conceived the Five Laws of Library Science in 1924. The statements embodying these laws were formulated in 1928. These laws were first published in Ranganathan's classic book entitled Five Laws of Library Science in 1931.
-
History of Libraries
"This report provides an overview of the historical exclusion and disenfranchisement of Blacks and African Americans from libraries and educational institutions in the United States and explores the ways in which the legacy of this exclusion manifests today"-- Provided by publisher.
-
Partnerships between Academic and Public Libraries
US Public libraries are ideal contexts to support early learning and family engagement. However, they are still not fully connected with the early childhood systems within their communities, limiting their potential impact to prepare children and families for the transition to formal schooling. Further, COVID-19 has exacerbated existing barriers to library access, particularly for historically marginalized populations. To address this gap, we contend that public library-university partnerships are one way public libraries can improve their impact and expand their reach. Public libraries and developmental researchers share similar goals and possess complementary expertise that makes a partnership approach to collaboration mutually beneficial.
-
Working Toward Wellness: Exploring Trauma-Informed Librarianship
As awareness increases about the need to address personal challenges both inside and out of the library, staff and practitioners—from leaders to frontline workers—are sharing their experiences, observations, and views around trauma-informed librarianship
-
ALA Scholarship Program
The American Library Association (ALA) is committed to promoting and advancing the librarian profession. To demonstrate this commitment, the ALA and its units provide more than $300,000 annually for study in a master's degree in library and information studies from an ALA accredited program, or for a master's degree with a specialty in school librarianship that meets the ALA curriculum guidelines for a Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) accredited unit. (Updated Fall 2025)
