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Studies & Degrees in Library Science and Documentation

Library science and documentation, often called library and information science, is the study of how recorded information is selected, described, organised, preserved and made available to the people who need it. The setting may be a public, school or university library, an archive, or the documentation centre or records system of a company or public body. Librarians, in the words of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, help people find information and conduct research for personal and professional use.

Students learn cataloguing and classification, metadata and databases, information retrieval, collection management, reference and user services, preservation and digitisation, and the management of an information service. Recent programmes add data and digital content management, and many include a placement in a library, archive or documentation centre.

Qualifications and levels

The entry qualification differs by country, so check what employers ask for where you plan to work.

  • Spain. The subject is taught as a bachelor's degree (grado) in information and documentation. Official bachelor's degrees have 240 ECTS credits and official master's degrees 60, 90 or 120. The Universidade da Coruña offers an official Grado en Gestión Digital de Información y Documentación of 240 credits at its Faculty of Humanities and Documentation in Ferrol, with 45 places for 2026. The Universidad de Murcia lists its four-year, 240-credit Grado en Información y Documentación as being phased out, so confirm with the university which study plan is open to new students.
  • United States. Librarians typically need a master's degree in library science (MLS), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Students need a bachelor's degree in any major to enter, and programmes usually take one to two years. The MS in Library and Information Science of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign requires 40 credit hours and can be completed on campus or online in 18 to 24 months; the school states it has been accredited by the American Library Association (ALA) since 1926. The University of Kentucky reports that its Master of Science in Library Science has continued ALA accreditation. School librarians usually also need a teaching certificate, and requirements vary by state.
  • Latin America. The usual route is a professional undergraduate degree in bibliotecología. At the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín it lasts eight semesters, has 130 credits, is taught on campus and leads to the title of Bibliotecólogo.
  • Sweden. The Swedish School of Library and Information Science at the University of Borås admits more than 300 students each year, and its programmes include a Master's Programme in Information Science: Digital Environments.
  • United Kingdom. The professional body CILIP notes that formal qualifications are not required to start a career in libraries, and it accredits full academic programmes for professional practice.

Where to study

SpainExchange lists 72 active schools for library science and documentation. The United States has 20 and Spain 18, followed by Brazil with 6 and Colombia with 3; Indonesia, Argentina and India have 2 each. In Spain the list includes the Universidad de Murcia, the Universidade da Coruña and the online Universitat Oberta de Catalunya in Barcelona. Elsewhere it includes the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Kentucky, the University of Borås, the Universidad de Antioquia, the Universidade Federal da Paraíba, the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima and the Universidad de Costa Rica.

Programmes are normally taught in the national language: Spanish in Spain and Spanish-speaking America, Portuguese in Brazil, English in the United States.

Careers

Graduates work as librarians in public, school, university and specialised libraries, as documentalists and records managers in companies and public bodies, and as archivists, cataloguers and managers of digital content. The Universidad de Antioquia names the management of libraries, documentation centres and information services among the roles of its graduates, and the Universidade da Coruña includes the planning of information services (documentation centres, archives and libraries).

In the United States, librarians and library media specialists held about 142,300 jobs in 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local government employed 32 percent of them and local elementary and secondary schools 31 percent. Employment is projected to grow 3 percent from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,600 openings a year. In Spain and much of Latin America, many library posts belong to the public sector and are filled through public selection processes; check the rules of the administration concerned.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a master's degree to become a librarian?

It depends on the country. In the United States librarians typically need a master's degree in library science. In Spain and Latin America the usual route is an undergraduate degree in information and documentation or bibliotecología.

How long does the degree take?

A Spanish bachelor's degree has 240 ECTS credits over four years. The bibliotecología degree of the Universidad de Antioquia lasts eight semesters, and a US master's in library science usually takes one to two years.

Can I study library science online?

Yes, in some places. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign offers its master's degree on campus or online, and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya is a fully online university; ask each school which programmes it currently offers at a distance.

What is ALA accreditation?

The American Library Association accredits master's programmes in library and information science in the United States. Schools such as Illinois and Kentucky state that their master's degrees hold it.