Print

Print


On May 24 the Chancellor of Louisiana State University, citing state budget cuts, announced plans to close the School of Library & Information Science. Before this proposal can be implemented, it would first have to be approved by the LSU Board of Supervisors and then by the Louisiana Board of Regents.   The university told us in May that they expected the Board of Supervisors would discuss SLIS at the Board's July 16 meeting, but I learned this morning that we will NOT be on the agenda this month.

The next meeting of the Board of Supervisors will be August 27, and SLIS may be on the agenda for that meeting.  As I learn more details, I will keep everyone informed through our website, listservs, etc.

This revised schedule does not change our concerns about the future of SLIS.  For the last six weeks, the faculty, students, alumni, and friends have been writing letters to the Board of Supervisors and have been signing an e-petition to support the School.   We appreciate the strong support the School has received from professional associations including AALL, ALA, ALISE, LLA, MLA, and SLA, and from the hundreds of people who have written letters, and the more than 2,000 people who have signed the e-petition.   For more information about writing letters, and for a link to our Facebook page (which has the link to the petition), please go to slis.lsu.edu.

The linked article from the July 13 issue of the Baton Rouge Business Report provides good coverage about SLIS:  http://businessreport.com/news/2010/jul/12/lis-last-stand-edn1/ 

Beth Paskoff, Dean
LSU School of Library & Information Science
[log in to unmask]