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Clinical Experience Placement

Clinical Experience formally begins with enrollment in LIS 728 or LIS 729:

Candidates without current teacher certification enroll in LIS 728 Clinical Experience I – Student Teaching and have two non-paid placements, one in an elementary/middle and the other in a middle/secondary school library media center. Each placement is required to consist of 200 clock hours (usually in five weeks).   

Candidates with current teacher certification enroll in LIS 729 Clinical Experience II – Internship and have two non-paid placements, one in an elementary/middle and the other in a middle/secondary school library media center. Each placement is required to consist of 80 clock hours (usually in two weeks). 

Following a personal interview with the candidate to assess the candidate’s previous experiences and areas of growth, and after reading the candidate’s professional autobiography, the coordinator of clinical practice makes the placements.  Every effort is made to match clinical experiences with the candidate’s needs.  Whenever possible, the location of clinical experience sites and scheduling of clinical experiences will be arranged to meet the candidate’s requests.  However, Illinois certification requirements are specific and must be met.  In addition, it is the policy of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science to place candidates in sites that will provide meaningful clinical experiences.  In addition to the tuition and fees charged by the university, the student teacher or intern is subject to the requirements of the cooperating school, which might include an interview, fee, background check, recent TB test results, etc.

The overriding criteria in the selection of placement sites are: 

  • the presence of a full-time certified school library media specialist with three (3) years’ experience in the current school whose primary responsibility is to guide the school’s library media program,
  • a commitment to reading and literature,
  • evidence of an emphasis on information literacy,
  • provision of flexible access to the library media center throughout the school day,
  • evidence of collaboration between the school library media specialist and classroom teachers in the teaching and learning process,
  • evidence of the effective utilization of technology in managing and accessing information, and
  • support staff. 

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