School Librarianship Graduate Certificate

The School Librarianship certificate is for any new student, or currently or previously enrolled student at the University of Tennessee, who has a valid Tennessee teaching license. The certificate, in combination with a master’s degree and successful completion of the School Librarian Praxis exam, prepares an individual to work as a school librarian in a PreK-12 setting in Tennessee.

Campus Code:

Knoxville

Distance Education

Graduate Certificate Type:

Stand-alone

Add-on

Admissions Standards/Procedures:

• A completed online application must be received by the Office of Graduate Admissions, and the applicant must meet the School of Information Sciences graduate program standards, including:
• An undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher;
• A 400-700 word written statement of your career objectives
• Letters of recommendation from 3 persons qualified to judge academic and/or professional qualities
• Resume
• The GRE is not required.
• Applicants with a master’s degree from a college or university accredited by the American Library Association may request a transcript evaluation to ascertain exactly what courses need to be completed.

Academic Standards:

A grade of B or better must be earned in all certificate courses.

Credit Hours Required:

23 graduate credit hours

Required Courses:

• INSC 511  Information Concepts and Foundations
• INSC 512  Information Organization and Retrieval
• INSC 514  Information Technology Foundations
• INSC 551  School Libraries
• INSC 560  Development & Management of Collections
• INSC 571  Children’s Materials
• INSC 572  Young Adult Materials
• INSC 596  Field-based Experience in School Libraries - (2 credit hours; 100 clock hours)

Non-Course Requirements

For an official endorsement to be added to a State of Tennessee teaching license, you must also successfully pass the Praxis Library Media Specialty exam (5311).

To receive the certificate, students must:
1) complete the Graduate Certificate Course Verification Form (located on the Graduate School webpage under the Forms Central tab) and
2) through MyUTK, apply to graduate from the certificate program.