The University of the West Indies, Mona

Important Notice: Termination of the B.A. in Librarianship Programme

Please be advised that the Bachelor of Arts in Librarianship degree has been officially terminated and will no longer be offered as of September 2024.

Students currently enrolled in the programme will be given the opportunity to complete their studies. Additionally, students who had previously started the programme but did not complete it have been invited to return in September 2025 to do so.

Please note that no returns to the programme will be permitted after Semester One of the 2025–2026 academic year. If you are unable to resume by that time, we encourage you to explore and apply for one of our other excellent degree offerings.

We thank you for your understanding and continued interest in our programmes.

Programme Overview

The B.A. in Librarianship is designed to produce graduates who will work in or manage a school library, a public library or a special library in the modern information environment. This 3-year programme equips students with theoretical and practical knowledge and skills that can be applied in the library in which they will be employed, including highly specialised skills related to cataloguing of print and electronic resources, creation of meta data, and so on.

Admission Requirements

To be admitted into the Library and Information Studies programme applicants must have Five (5) subjects at CXC/CSEC (grades 1-3), including English Language and Mathematics) and Two (2) of which must be at A-Level/CAPE.

Applicants may be subject to an admission interview.

Duration

Full-time students will take three (3) years to complete all requirements for the BA in Librarianship. Part-time students will take four (4) to five (5) years to complete the programme based on the number of courses they do per semester

Programme Description

The programme consists of two components:

1. Satisfactory completion of the regulation ninety (90) credits. Most Library courses are assigned three (3) credits. Students must complete at least forty-eight (48) credits in Librarianship and forty two (42) credits within the faculty. 

2. The obtaining of an additional three (3) credits from an approved internship for six (6) weeks in designated libraries, ideally undertaken during summer and the submission of a written report on the experience. 

Foreign Language Requirement

All students are required to take and pass as part of the B.A. degree programme, a preliminary one semester foreign language course.

The following are exempt– a native speaker of any of the foreign languages offered; students who have at least a foreign language pass in the CAPE Functional, CSEC General (1, 2 or 3) or O’Level.

B.A. IN LIBRARIANSHIP

YEAR I/LEVEL I

LIBS1003 – Introduction to Information Studies
LIBS1004 – Reference Services
LIBS1201 – Management and Information Systems I
LIBS1401 – Introduction to Online Searching
LIBS1502 – Information Technology for Information Professionals
FOUN1016/ FOUN1019
FOUN1002
Foreign Language
Two (2) Free Electives

YEAR II/LEVEL II

LIBS2103 – Creation of Metadata for Library Catalogues
LIBS2104 – Creation of Metadata for Library Catalogues II 
LIBS2205 – Management of Libraries and Information Units II
LIBS2301 – Research Methodology for Information Specialist
LIBS2502 – Introduction to Information Systems
LIBS2702 – Information Architecture: Web Accessibility and Usability
FOUN1201
FOUN1301
Two (2) Free Electives

YEAR III/LEVEL III

LIBS3007 – Caribbean Libraries and Information Units
LIBS3604 – Teaching Information Literacy
LIBS3802 – Internship in Librarianship
LIBS3901 – Access to Information in the Caribbean 

Any One from the following:

LIBS3207 – Literature for Children and Young Adults
LIBS3702 – Preservation Management: Principles and Practices
LIBS3801 – Records Management: Principles and Practice

Five (5) Free Electives

 *Electives MUST include at least three (3) Humanities and Education courses outside of department
  of major.