Organizational History. — Library education began at the University of Michigan in 1879, when the University Librarian, Raymond Davis, introduced a course in bibliography. A more formal program was begun in 1909 when Davis's successor, Theodore Koch, offered a summer program in "library methods" to seventeen students, each of whom possessed at least a high school education. In 1918, Koch's successor, William Warner Bishop, raised the entrance requirement for this summer program to a minimum of thirty hours of college credit. In the spring of 1926, the Regents of the University authorized the creation of the Department of Library Science, designed to offer instruction in both the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies. Dr. Bishop was named as first Chairman of the Department, while he also continued serving as University Librarian.
Two degrees were offered by the department: (1) a Bachelor of Arts in Library Science, conferred at the end of one year of work; and (2) a Master of Arts in Library Science, conferred at the end of two years of work. In 1930 a bachelor's degree was required for admission to the program, so that the Bachelor of Arts in Library Science was actually a postgraduate degree, despite its title.
In 1948, after a major curriculum revision, the program was reorganized, and the Bachelor of Arts degree was eliminated. The Master of Arts was awarded after two semesters and one summer session of work beyond the bachelor's degree. No previous study in librarianship was required for entry into this program. The revised program was accredited by the Board of Education for Librarianship (now the Committee on Accreditation) of the American Library Association in 1954 and has been re-accredited on a regular basis since then. At the same time as the master's degree was instituted, a program of study leading to the Doctor of Philosophy degree was approved by the University.
In November 1967, the University invited a panel of leaders in the library profession to come to Ann Arbor to examine the program and make recommendations for its expansion and improvement. The members of this panel