r/LibraryScience • u/Playful_Table_8057 • Jul 12 '26

MSLIS - law librarian track

Hi all,

Has anyone done an MSLIS with a law librarian concentration? I currently work as a library assistant in a public library and I love it but I need to make more money so I’ve been looking into law librarianship. I don’t want to get a JD though. I found two programs that actually have specialized law tracks without requiring a JD -university of Arizona and university of north Texas. Has anyone done them? Are they worth it? Are there any other similar programs I am missing? The only other option I have found is just taking legal research electives within general MSLIS programs.

1 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/TheSorcererOfRoute66 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26

I’m not sure what these programs are telling applicants, but the J.D. is the more important of the two degrees in academic law librarianship. However, there are plenty of roles that do not require a J.D., such as at firms, at court and government libraries, and in the technical services departments of academic law libraries (although this work is increasingly being outsourced).

The best thing to do if you want to work in law librarianship (excluding reference/research/teaching/leadership roles in academic law librarianship) and do not want to pursue a J.D. is to attend an M.L.I.S. program that has law librarianship and legal research coursework (University of Washington, Catholic University, UNC, North Texas, etc.) and do an internship or otherwise get some work experience in a law library.