Library Science Program | Tohoku Gakuin University

Library Science Course

I. About the Library Science Course

Libraries, along with museums and community centers, play a significant role among social education facilities and are closely linked to school education, making them important venues for education and culture.

Article 4 of the Library Law, promulgated in 1950, stipulates that "professional staff placed in libraries shall be called librarians and assistant librarians. Librarians shall engage in professional library duties. Assistant librarians shall assist librarians in their duties." These professional duties in libraries include selecting and collecting library materials necessary for library activities, organizing and preserving them in a state where they can be used at any time through specialized skills such as classification and cataloging, and further ensuring that the materials held are fully utilized in accordance with the needs of the people. Therefore, this qualification is an indispensable requirement for anyone wishing to engage in library work.

To obtain this qualification, Article 5 of the Library Law outlines three methods, but in the case of this university, the provision of paragraph 1, item 1 applies. That is, a person who has graduated from the university and has acquired credits in library-related subjects at the university is qualified to become a librarian.

From the 2012 academic year onward, the revised Library Law Enforcement Regulations, amended in 2009, will come into effect, requiring students to take newly designated courses in order to obtain librarian qualifications. This requirement to take new courses applies to students entering in the 2012 academic year and onward, and does not apply to students entering in the 2011 academic year or earlier. However, even for students who entered in the 2011 academic year or earlier, if they graduated without obtaining the credits for the old compulsory and elective courses required for qualification, the credits for the old courses obtained in the 2012 academic year or later will be invalid. Furthermore, if they aim to obtain qualifications as a non-degree student or at another university after graduation, they will be required to take the new courses stipulated in the Library Law Enforcement Regulations, so caution is advised.

II. About Course Enrollment

Those seeking to obtain a librarian qualification must complete the required and elective courses specified in the table below for each year of enrollment.

Department of English, Department of General Humanities, Department of History, Department of Education

(Applicable to students admitted in 2019 and later)

Students must complete 12 compulsory subjects totaling 22 credits, and at least 2 elective subjects totaling 2 credits, for a total of 14 subjects and at least 24 credits.

	legal subjects	Courses offered at this university	unit	annual	remarks
Must Repair Department eye	Introduction to Lifelong Learning	Introduction to Lifelong Learning I	2	2	English Literature, Integrated Humanities, and Department of History
	Introduction to Lifelong Learning	Lifelong Learning Theory	2	4	Department of Education
	Introduction to Library Science	Introduction to Library Science	2	2	Common to the Social Education Specialist Course
	Library Systems and Management Theory	Library Systems and Management Theory	2	4	Common to the Social Education Specialist Course
	Library and Information Technology Theory	Library and Information Technology Theory	2	3
	Introduction to Library Services	Introduction to Library Services	2	3
	Information Services Theory	Information Services Theory	2	4
	Child Services Theory	Reading and a Rich Human Nature	2	3	Common to the School Librarian Teacher Training Course
	Information Services Exercise	Information Services Exercise A	1	4
	Information Services Exercise	Information Services Exercise B	1	4
	Introduction to Library and Information Resources	Introduction to Library and Information Resources	2	3	Common to the Social Education Specialist Course
	Information resource organization theory	Information resource organization theory	2	3
	Information resource organization exercise	Information resource organization exercise	2	4
Selection Choice Department eye	Advanced Topics in Library Science	School management and school libraries	2	3	Common to the School Librarian Teacher Training Course
	Advanced Topics in Library Services	Instructional Guidance and School Libraries	2	3	Common to the School Librarian Teacher Training Course
	Advanced Topics in Library and Information Resources	Advanced Topics in Library and Information Resources	1	4
	History of Books and Libraries	History of Books and Libraries	2	3
	Library Facilities Theory	Library Facilities Theory	1	4

*For students taking individual courses from the 2012 academic year onward, the new curriculum will apply, and students will be able to take legally mandated courses (required and elective courses) as soon as the new courses are offered.

III. Issuance of Certificates of Completion

Those who register for the qualification at the beginning of the academic year and acquire the required credits will be issued a librarian qualification completion certificate on the day of the graduation ceremony.