Statement on the Certification & Licensing of Academic Librarians

Approved by the ACRL Board of Directors, July, 1989.

Reaffirmed by the ACRL Board, June, 2001 and June, 2007.

Modified and reaffirmed by the ACRL Board at the Spring Executive Committee Meeting, May 11, 2011.

Reaffirmed by the ACRL Board, April 2018.

At the 2011 Spring Executive Committee Meeting, the board of directors of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) approved the following "Statement on the Certification and Licensing of Academic Librarians":

The Association of College and Research Libraries has affirmed that the master's degree from a program accredited by the American Library Association or from an international institution with a formal accreditation process identified by ALA’s Human Resource Development and Recruitment Office is the appropriate terminal professional degree for academic librarians. Therefore, ACRL opposes any alternative certification or licensing by state agencies or by state or local professional associations in lieu of the accredited degree for academic librarians.

However, ACRL does not oppose licensing or certifying librarians in addition to an M.L.S/M.L.I.S degree.