Representatives from Peking University, Beijing, and Nanjing Library, Nanjing, visited Kent State's School of Library and Information Science and University Libraries on Monday, June 20, to learn more about library education and professional librarianship in the United States.
[Representatives from Peking University, Beijing, and Nanjing Library, Nanjing] Front row: Xu Jianye, Deputy Director, Nanjing Library, Nanjing; Li Guoxin, Professor, Department of Information Management, Peking University, Beijing; Wei-ping Zhang, Associate Professor, University Libraries; Don A. Wicks, Ph.D., Interim Director, SLIS; Caroline (Xiao Fang) Han, Senior Subject Department Librarian, Cleveland Public Library.
Back row: James Bracken, Ph.D., Dean, University Libraries; John Skrtic, MLIS '03, Acting Public Services Administrator, Cleveland Public Library; Stanley Wearden, Ph.D., Dean, College of Communication and Information; J. Mark Pike, Associate Director, University Libraries.
Li Guoxin, professor, Department of Information Management, Peking University, Beijing, and Jianye Xu, Deputy Director, Nanjing Library, Nanjing, were accompanied by Cleveland Public Library (CPL) representatives Caroline (Xiao Fang) Han, senior subject department librarian, and John Skrtic, MLIS '03, acting public services administrator. CPL is hosting their visit to the area.
In SLIS they visited the Reinberger Children's Library Center, Marantz Picturebook Collection and Digital Laboratory. They were particularly interested in the school's strong programs in children's, youth services and school librarianship, areas that are not very strong in libraries in China, as they told Stanley Wearden, Ph.D., dean, College of Communication and Information, and Don A. Wicks, Ph.D., interim director of SLIS.
Li Guoxin said enrollment in the library science program at Peking University is similar to that of Kent State. He is the co-chair of Academic Professional Committee of Library Society of China. He has been the leader of researching and legislating team for several years. The research programs include "Public Library Construction Standards of China," "Township Integrated Cultural Station Construction Standards of China" and "Public Library Law of China."
Jianye Xu has a B.A. and master's degree as a research librarian from East China Normal University. During the 1998-99 school year, he was a Visiting Scholar at Wales University at Aberystwyth, United Kingdom, where he studied library science. Since 1989, he has worked at Nanjing Library in various positions, including reference librarian, executive secretary, vice-head of administration, chief librarian assistant and since 2003, deputy librarian, in charge of main professional affairs of the Nanjing Library.
The visitors also took a tour of the main library with J. Mark Pike, associate director, University Libraries, and Wei-ping Zhang, associate professor, University Libraries, and met with James Bracken, Ph.D., dean, University Libraries.
Kent State's School of Library and Information Science offers the only Master of Library and Information Science degree program in Ohio that is accredited by the American Library Association, and one of the nation's few master's degrees in Information Architecture and Knowledge Management. The school is recognized by U.S. News and World Report as one of the nation's top 20 graduate schools, and its youth librarianship program is ranked 13th. It is one of the largest library schools in the country, with nearly 700 students enrolled.