The Devalued MLIS

摘要

FOR NEARLY ALL 140 YEARS OF THE EXISTENCE OF the American Library Association (ALA), its Executive Director (ED) has been a professional librarian. Today, the credential required to ensure that the ED is a librarian is the Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) degree. However, a group of ALA councilors and Executive Board members apparently want to change that. This column was written prior to the expected debate at the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Atlanta over whether the MLIS should be required or only preferred as a qualification for the next ALA ED.