Case Study: Dominican University School of Information Studies and Skokie Public Library Internship Partnership

Richard Kong, the director of the Skokie Public Library (SPL), and Kate Marek, the dean of Dominican's School of Information Studies (SOIS), found that a shared commitment to practice- based learning (PBL) in an MLIS degree program could provide the basis of an innovative practical experience beyond a traditional three-credit-hour practicum course. In academic year 2014–2015, the two organizations launched a partnership in which students in Dominican's SOIS have an opportunity to participate in a year-long immersive internship program at Skokie Public Library, gaining invaluable professional experience in a PBL model for library and information science. In this article, Kong and Marek discuss the inception of the Skokie Public Library (SPL)–Dominican SOIS partnership, its planning, design, and implementation, the results of preliminary evaluations, and some comments from current and past participants.