QUESTION: Librarian school

I am looking to go back to school with the goal of becoming a librarian. However, I'm looking to get a lot out of going back to school. I'm looking to fashion a sort of music librarian career out of my education. I'm interested in having strong multicultural, musical, and researching skills. Currently, I live in Kansas, but am looking to go where my needs will be best met. I don't have to go to grad school right away, and am actually looking at that as something I'd like to do down the road while I find a job in the music industry dealing with sound itself (sound tech, probably). I'm looking for an undergrad school that will encompass all the things I mentioned lend itself easily to becoming a librarian later. It would be golden if the school had some radical tendencies.

ANSWER: Librarian school

The Music Library Association does a guide every year to Library School Offerings in Music Librarianship. You can find that guide here.

In Kansas, Emporia State University offers a dual degree Masters program in music and library science.

These listings are all for Masters programs. There are colleges and universities that offer undergraduate degrees in library science (including Emporia State), however these programs are not accredited and a MLS is the typical requirement for librarian positions. You can find a list of undergraduate library science programs here.

If you are looking to earn an undergraduate degree with the idea of going on to get your MLS, you may be better served by earning an undergraduate degree in Music. You can find a list of colleges that offer a Music major here.

As for discovering how radical or radical-friendly a particular library science program is, I would suggest posting your question on a library listserv (such as NexGenLib), once you have narrowed down your choices. Librarians love to share information - and I'm sure any who have attended the schools you are interested in would be happy to give you their assessment of their program.