Welcome to the University of Iowa’s School of Library & Information Science, where we value inquiry, community, and the knowledge and connections that result from their practice, values I see in the daily teaching and research efforts of our faculty and staff here at SLIS. A defining characteristic of SLIS is its commitment to librarianship as a dynamic and multifaceted profession that supports communities through libraries both as independent entities and within broader institutional frameworks. SLIS’s strategic alignment of instructional focus and programmatic growth underscores our enduring commitment to advancing the field of library and information science through rigorous education, interdisciplinary innovation, and community-centered practice.  

SLIS prepares students for impactful careers across key sectors of the field, with particular emphasis on public libraries, school libraries with state certification, academic libraries, and special collections and archives. Our longstanding collaboration with the University of Iowa Center for the Book (UICB) enables us to offer a joint MA/MFA degree and a Certificate in Book Studies and Library and Information Science (BLIS), among other interdisciplinary programs. Building on the University’s innovative undergraduate-to-graduate (U2G) initiative, SLIS offers a streamlined pathway for students to earn both undergraduate and graduate degrees within five years. Our joint Ph.D. in English and MLIS, the only one of its kind in the nation, has already graduated new faculty and national leaders.

To meet our current students, alumni, and faculty, I encourage you to read through the SLIS annual newsletters. You may also want to explore each faculty member’s page and video introduction, starting in the SLIS Directory, where you can get to know us better as we discuss our teaching, our research, and what SLIS means to us. 

We invite you to learn more about our program, a cost-effective and powerful professional pathway; and we welcome the opportunity to talk with you about your interests in serving others through the outreach and instruction that characterizes our discipline in the twenty-first century.  

If information science is part of your future, then SLIS at the University of Iowa invites you to begin that future here with us.