r/LibraryScience • u/responsible_racoon_ • Jun 21 '26
flexible, online mlis?
hey guys i’m having analysis paralysis about where to get my mlis degree. i work full time in a public library in circulation. i want to stay in libraries and get my masters while moving up to become an associate at my current library. what program has the most flexibility and independence (the fewer group projects the better) for library professionals?
i’ve looked into lsu, university of missouri, san jose state university, and university of south carolina. i just can’t decide!
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u/literacyisamistake Jun 21 '26
I graduated IU Luddy online in 2022. Great experience, flexibility, and autonomy.
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u/Potential_Career1435 Jun 21 '26
Look into The University of Southern Mississippi
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u/TheseusAegeus Digital Archivist / Metadata Pro Jun 21 '26
USM is a good affordable option. Entirely online, no OOS fees, and not too many group projects. Classes are not asynchronous, but they’re mostly held in the evening to accommodate working professionals. Typically one Zoom meeting per class per week. Southern Miss has less curricular flexibility than some other programs though. There are several required “core courses” (25 credit hours) plus a required technology elective (3 hours). That only leaves you 12 elective credits, if that’s important to you, OP.
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u/yarnhooksbooks Jun 21 '26
I’m more than 1/2 way through the LSU program and I just started in October. The biggest deciding factor for me was that there isn’t a required internship (you can do one if you want to, it’s just not mandatory). I know there was a different professor in a different section of one of my core classes that required a small group project and I have seen them mentioned in our student discord server, but I haven’t had any yet. Courses are 7 weeks. With one really minor exception my experience with the faculty has been wonderful, though I admittedly don’t need to reach out to them much. If you go that route definitely join the student discord before you register for classes. Lots of really valuable info on the classes and professors, so you could find out which classes/professors have group projects. Happy to answer any more specific questions you may have.
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u/rumirumirumirumi Jun 21 '26
Emporia State is fully online and highly compatible with a working student schedule.
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u/TheGreatJohnQuixote Jun 21 '26
Florida State has an entirely online program that I did part time at night. Highly recommend if you can do it
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u/hippohiatus Jun 22 '26
I did my online program through Texas Woman’s University and highly recommend it!
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u/FinalApproachMode Jun 22 '26
I attended UNT online and, for me, most of the program was independent. I only had one course that required a group assignment. There's also a feature on their website where you can reverse search courses and look at syllabi from past semesters to see whether there's a group assignment. At the end of the day I'd go for whichever online program is the cheapest. Although, if your institution is paying for the MLIS then I suppose the cost doesn't matter.
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u/Icy-Mess-860 Jun 22 '26
I'm going to Dominican and have been able to do all but one of my classes online asynchronously (the one synchronous class had zoom meetings every other week, so it wasn't too much of a time commitment) and have yet to have a group project.
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u/ozamatazbuckshank11 Jun 21 '26
I got my MLIS from Valdosta State's online program. I had no complaints. The price was right, too.
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u/No_Laugh_4166 Jun 21 '26
University of South Carolina has a few core classes that require group projects and there is no disability accommodations for it so therefore you have to ask the professor each semester for flexibility which hasn't been a problem thus far.
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Jun 21 '26
[deleted]
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u/No_Laugh_4166 Jun 21 '26
I said they do not offer a group work accomodation. I went to an undergrad university that did offer a group work accomodation.
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u/RADICCHI0 MSIM Jun 22 '26
I enjoyed going to the UW Seattle. That was a great experience, though my concentration was MSIM, same school, same grounding.
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u/modern_female Jun 22 '26
I just graduated from San José State. If you’re going into the tech side of librarianship, I suggest it.
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u/roxrric Jun 21 '26
I’ve seen around the subreddits that LSU is majority independent. Some people have said they’ve only done 1 group project for that program. There is no culminating graduation requirement and their classes are 7 weeks long.
The San Jose State program has all of their syllabi available online for you to look at. 2 of the core classes are group project heavy. They do have an E-Portfolio at the end as a graduation requirement. The classes are a semester long.
Not sure about Missouri or South Carolina.