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New home for master's studies at state institution in Columbus brings enhanced opportunities
By Carol Biliczky
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Sunday, Mar 09, 2008
Starting this summer, Kent State University's library science program in Columbus will open a new chapter.
The university is moving its master's program from leased quarters in Ohio State University's Mount Hall to the State Library of Ohio, which serves special audiences — the state government and all the libraries in the state.
The move will double the KSU program's square footage in Columbus to about 6,100 and enable enrollment on that campus to grow from 150 students today to perhaps 200 or 225 in a few years.
''By moving to the State Library, we will have tremendous collaborative opportunities,'' said Rick Rubin, director of the KSU School of Library and Information Science. ''This natural partnership is almost too attractive on both sides to overlook.''
The collaboration also makes American library history.
KSU will be the first library science school to be housed in a state library since Melvil Dewey's School of Library Economy opened at the State Library of New York in 1889, said Jo Budler, head librarian of Ohio's State Library. Dewey founded the cataloguing system that libraries use to this day.
''This sets Ohio up in a unique position,'' Budler said. ''Anytime we can be unique in a positive way is great.''
The State Library stands alone in Ohio. Located in the circa-1800s Jeffrey Manufacturing Co. buildings in Columbus' Italian Village, it is the only full depository for the state and federal governments in Ohio.
That means it tries to collect everything these governments put out, from historical maps to vials of soil samples. In contrast, other libraries in Ohio are more selective.
With more than 1 million publications dating back to the 1700s, the library will be a treasure trove to KSU students. They will have ready access to the specialized collection instead of placing orders through interlibrary loan or trooping across Columbus to visit it during their free time. They may have the chance to take part in State Library projects such as digitization and internships, Budler said.
Students will be housed in newly renovated space within the library.
Kent State has invested $350,000 to $400,000 to create classrooms, offices, conference rooms and a technology laboratory.
That expense will be offset in part by savings. Kent State won't be paying $39,000 in yearly rent to Ohio State and will not pay any rent to the State Library for the first four years. After that it will make in-kind contributions such as possibly buying computers, Rubin said.
Along the way, it may be able to expand enrollment by as much as half in what has become an increasingly popular field, he suggested.
''The career has been pictured as checking out books and controlling people's behaviors, but it's such an eminently democratic institution,'' he said. ''There's so many opportunities in the field.''
The 2008 careers report from U.S. News and World Report says opportunities for librarians will grow as aging baby boomers retire. Library science is not only a hot career, it is underrated, according to the report.
Still, Kent State's library science program is just like the stereotypical librarian — quiet.
With 600 students at Kent, Columbus and four distance learning sites throughout the state, it is the largest graduate program at the university and the third largest library science program in the country, Rubin said.
It is the only master's program in library science in Ohio to be accredited by the American Library Association.
The new location at the State Library ''gives us room to grow. We have been maxed out at Mount Hall,'' Rubin said.
The challenge is getting the message of opportunity out to more potential students.
''Its big trouble is that no one thinks of it, even though it has one of the highest job satisfaction rates and one of the lowest turnover rates,'' he said. ''We've had trouble getting that across.''
Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 or cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com.
Starting this summer, Kent State University's library science program in Columbus will open a new chapter.
Get the full article here.
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