About | Fellows | Staff and Lecturers | Schedule
About the Slavic Library Institute (SLI)
52 years ago, the leading lights of the fledgling Slavic librarian community in the U.S. came together at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to train a new generation of librarians. Many from this first group of students went on to distinguished careers in the field.
For more information on the Fellows who participated in the 2022 iteration of the Slavic Library Institute, please visit the “Slavic Library Institute – Fellows” page; for information on the staff and lecturers that facilitated and presented at the 2022 iteration of the Institute, please visit our “Slavic Library Institute – Staff and Lecturers” page.
What is the Slavic Library Institute?
The Slavic Library Institute 2022 was offered as an intensive version of “Russian, East European & Eurasian Bibliography & Research Methods,” (i.e. IS 461), which has been taught at the University of Illinois since 1967. This course is offered through Illinois’ School of Information Sciences (the iSchool), whose MLIS program has been ranked #1 in the United States since 1996. In-person and virtual lectures were provided on all aspects of librarianship by leading experts from institutions such as:
- Library of Congress
- Biblioteka Jagiellońska
- Czech National Library
- Columbia University
- University of Chicago
- Stanford University
- New York Public Library
- University of Toronto
- Hathi Trust Research Center
- Center for Research Libraries
- Slavic Cataloging Manual
The Slavic Library Institute was conducted from May 16th to June 3rd, 2022. All SLI Fellows were expected to adhere to the COVID-related policies of the university as they existed in the Spring 2022 semester.
Funding for the Slavic Library Institute 2022 was provided by the Ralph T. Fisher, Jr. Professorship Fund.
Why UIUC, and Why the iSchool?
For starters, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign holds the largest collection of Slavic, East European and Eurasian materials west of Washington, D.C., and is the largest public university library in the country. Each year since 1976, its federally-funded Slavic Reference Service has answered thousands of reference queries from hundreds of local, national, and international scholars. Many former students and staff have gone on to assume leadership roles in SEEE collections across the United States and beyond.
As for the iSchool, UIUC’s School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (i.e. iSchool) is ranked #1 in Digital Librarianship and has the oldest existing LIS doctoral program in the U.S. It has been ranked as the #1 U.S. graduate program in Library and Information Sciences every year since 1996, with nearly 7,000 alumni working in libraries, archives, museums, and other information-intensive environments around the world.
Who Were SLI Fellows, and What Did They Receive as Fellows?
SLI Fellows were graduate students in Library & Information Sciences and/or early-career librarians who are interested in pursuing a career in the field of Slavic, East European & Eurasian Studies, whether it be in libraries, archives, museums, government agencies, or other information sciences contexts. Successful applicants to the Institute received:
- Full tuition
- Lodging
- Travel expenses (up to $500)
Full graduate course credit was available through the University of Illinois’ dual M.S./M.A. program in Library & Information Sciences/Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies.
If you have any questions related to the SLI, please contact the Slavic Library Institute c/o condill@illinois.edu.
