Rutgers Board of Governors Approves Name Change Dropping Word "Library"

Andrew Albanese -- Library Journal, 4/2/2009

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In an emotionally charged meeting, the Board of Governors of Rutgers, State University of New Jersey, today approved a resolution changing the name of the university’s School of Communication, Information and Library Studies (SCILS) to the School of Communication and Information (SCI). The change is effective as of July 1.

Known as SCILS since 1982, the SCI will continue to house three of Rutgers’ academic departments: communication, journalism and media studies, and library and information science. In a statement, Rutgers president Richard L. McCormick said that the name change “communicates the school’s mission and values” and that such “clarity is pivotal at a time when the fields of communication and information are central to societal changes occurring as we speak.”

Emotional meeting
Connie Paul, executive director of the Central Jersey Regional Library Cooperative, told LJ that a nearly full house of observers endured something of a roller coaster meeting. "It was very emotional," Paul said. Although most everyone thought the vote was a done deal, when one governor asked what the effect of tabling the vote might be, opponents of the name change, who vastly outnumbered supporters in the audience, sensed a glimmer of hope, but it was not to be.

Three people spoke in support of the name change, including Dean Jorge Reina Schement, while five spoke against the measure, including two former American Library Association presidents, Mitch Freedman and Betty Turock. In one tense moment, a governor asked Schement if it was true that the school's faculty were all supportive of the change and that opposition was mostly external. Schement replied yes, at which point a student rose to speak but was not recognized by the chair.

Controversial change
The Board of Governors’ vote comes after the school’s faculty voted 30-10 in favor of the name change on Feb. 4, following months of discussions within the school and among members of the Rutgers University community.

The decision by the Rutgers faculty garnered significant criticism among librarians. The Executive Board of the New Jersey Library Association, for example, approved a resolution asking for the name change to be reconsidered, arguing that the deletion of the word "library" does not clarify—as Schement contends—but rather obfuscates the purpose of the school.

In March, Mary K. Chelton, professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, Queens College, City University of New York, and a double alumna of Rutgers’ programs, shared with LJ a letter she wrote to school administrators. She warns of denying history and denigrating the role of women. Her essay is here.
LJ asked Schement to respond to concerns raised by Chelton and other librarians. His response emphasizes that the revised name focuses on commonalities and new opportunities. His essay is here.

Readers respond
LJ readers have also voiced their own opinions on the issue. Some Rutgers alumni seemed strongly opposed to the change. “The name change seems ill-advised,” commented one alum. “If the people of New Jersey still want libraries and librarians as the NJLA response suggests, the School’s name should reflect where they can get the latter.”

“I have always been a very enthusiastic alumna (1967) of the Rutgers SCILS,” wrote another. “If this name change is made, I will never mention the name Rutgers again in my life. Shame on the dean.”

Some newer grads, meanwhile, seemed supportive. “I recently received my MLIS from Rutgers, and I’m glad they’re changing the name,” wrote one commenter. “An MLIS degree is about how information and communication work within a library. Another way of looking at it is this: physicians go to medical school, not hospital school or private practice school.”

One school librarian who disapproved of the change noted an increasingly ironic schism: “I am a proud librarian, and refer to myself as such, even though my official title is Media Specialist,” the librarian commented. “The words 'library' and 'librarian' share universal meaning while 'communication and information' is a nebulous term that may have any number of meanings depending upon context.”

“Just a reminder, Dean Schement is not a librarian,” commented an academic librarian. “He has no vested interest in Library Studies in the title.” Follow the money, suggested another librarian. “SCILS graduates represent much less than 25 percent of the alumni donors to the school. Who is Rutgers going to try to court? An MLIS with a $40k per year salary or successful journalists and media folks who have made it into the big time and can demonstrate that with hefty donations. I think the decision to change the name to SCI is a poor one and lacks integrity. I also think that it is a cold, calculated move to follow the money.”

For the latest comments, read the story here—and add your own perspective.