TL;DR: BS Library and Information Science (BLIS) is a four-year degree governed by CHED Memorandum Order No. 24, series of 2015, whose sample curriculum runs to 152 units across 51 courses and includes a 400-hour practicum split across academic, school, public and special libraries. Yes, there is a board exam. Librarianship is one of PRC's 46 Professional Regulatory Boards, and the Librarian Licensure Examination is governed by Republic Act No. 9246, the Philippine Librarianship Act of 2003: six subjects, a weighted general average of 75% with no grade below 50%, and a statutory rule that only licensed librarians may be employed as librarians in government libraries.
The Licence Is Not Optional
Start here, because it decides whether this degree is for you. Section 31 of RA 9246 provides that only qualified and licensed librarians shall be employed as librarians in all government libraries. That covers public school libraries, state university libraries, and government agency libraries, which together are the largest single employer of librarians in the country.
Section 15 sets who may sit the exam: holders of a bachelor's degree in library and information science, or a master's degree in the field. So the licence is the point of the degree, and the degree is the gateway to the licence.
If you are weighing this against other licensed paths, our roundup of courses with board exams lays out which Philippine degrees end in a PRC licence.
The Librarian Licensure Examination
| Item | What the law says |
|---|---|
| Governing law | Republic Act No. 9246, Philippine Librarianship Act of 2003 |
| Administering body | Board for Librarians, under PRC |
| Degree required | Bachelor's degree in library and information science, or a master's degree in the field (Sec. 15) |
| Subjects | Six, listed below (Sec. 16) |
| Passing standard | Weighted general average of 75%, with no grade lower than 50% (Sec. 17) |
The six examination subjects under Section 16:
- Selection and acquisition of multimedia information sources
- Cataloguing and classification
- Indexing and abstracting
- Reference, bibliography and information services
- Organisation, management and development of library and information services, including relevant laws and trends
- Information technology
CHED's BLIS curriculum was written against that list. CMO No. 24, s. 2015 states explicitly that the core courses, naming library and information centre organisation and management, collection management, organisation of information resources, information resources and services, indexing and abstracting, and information technology, are the ones "required in the Librarians' Licensure Examination."
On schedules: PRC publishes the examination calendar and filing windows on its own site each cycle, and the dates move. We do not publish next cycle's dates. Our guide to PRC board exam requirements covers the general filing mechanics, and how to check PRC results explains the official route once a cycle closes.
The BLIS Curriculum
CHED Memorandum Order No. 24, series of 2015, adopted by Commission en banc Resolution No. 268-2015 dated 25 May 2015, is the revised PSG for the programme. Its sample curriculum is structured like this:
| Component | Courses | Units |
|---|---|---|
| General Education | 18 | 54 |
| LIS Core Courses | 13 | 39 |
| Library Practice | 2 | 6 |
| ICT Courses | 6 | 18 |
| Special Topics | 7 | 21 |
| Physical Education | 3 | 8 |
| NSTP | 2 | 6 |
| Total | 51 | 152 |
One caveat that matters. The 54-unit General Education block reflects the framework in force when the order was issued in 2015, before CHED's current General Education curriculum took effect for higher education institutions. Schools today publish different totals as a result. UP Diliman's School of Library and Information Studies describes BLIS as a four-year, 138-unit programme. Neither figure is wrong; they are measured against different General Education frameworks. Ask the department for its current curriculum checklist rather than assuming the CMO's total.
The thirteen LIS core courses
Named in CMO No. 24, each 3 units:
- Introduction to Library and Information Science
- Collection Management of Information Resources
- Information Resources and Services I and II
- Organization of Information Resources I and II
- Indexing and Abstracting
- Management of Libraries and Information Centers
- Information Literacy
- Library Materials for Children and Young Adults
- Introduction to Records Management and Archives
- Research Methods in Library and Information Science
- Thesis / Research Writing
The six ICT courses
This is the half of the degree people underestimate:
- Information Processing and Handling in Libraries and Information Centers
- Web Technologies in Libraries and Information Centers
- Digital Libraries and Resources
- Programming Fundamentals
- Systems Analysis and Design in Libraries and Information Centers
- Database Design for Libraries
Yes, programming fundamentals is in there, and yes, it is required. Modern library work is catalogue systems, discovery layers, institutional repositories and digital collections.
The seven special topics
These are where a student picks a direction: School and Academic Librarianship, Special and Public Librarianship, Preservation of Information Resources, Philosophies and Principles of Teaching, Educational Technology, Indigenous Knowledge and Multi-Culturalism, and Foreign Language.
Thesis
CMO No. 24 requires a thesis or research project for graduation, on a topic central to the profession, presented to a faculty committee, approved by the dean or head of the unit, and completed under a designated adviser.
The 400-Hour Practicum
This is the most distinctive requirement in the degree, and it is deliberately spread across library types so graduates are not narrow.
CHED prescribes a practicum totalling 400 hours towards the end of the programme, supervised by a practicum coordinator:
- Library Practice I — internship in academic and school libraries, a minimum of 100 hours each.
- Library Practice II — immersion in public and special libraries or institutions, a minimum of another 100 hours each.
At the end of each course, students submit a journal of observations, experiences and recommendations. CHED's stated purpose is exposure to all facets of LIS work in actual libraries and information centres in both the public and private sectors.
If you are choosing a school, ask which specific libraries their students are placed in. A programme with placements only inside its own campus library is not delivering what the CMO describes.
Careers After BLIS
The obvious destination is a library, but the field is wider than the job title:
- Academic and school libraries — the largest employer group, and where the licence requirement bites hardest in government institutions. CHED separately issued CMO No. 22, series of 2021 on minimum requirements for libraries of higher education institutions common to all programmes, which is one of the things that keeps institutional demand for qualified library staff steady.
- Public and special libraries — local government libraries, and libraries attached to hospitals, law firms, courts, media organisations, research institutes and corporations.
- Archives and records management — a distinct track that CHED builds into the curriculum through the records management and archives course.
- Information and knowledge management — corporate roles in information governance, taxonomy, discovery and content management.
- Digital libraries and repositories — institutional repository management, metadata work and digitisation projects.
UP SLIS lists specialisations in librarianship, archives, records management, health information and legal information, and points at emerging areas including informatics, data science and digital humanities, which is a fair description of where the field is heading.
We are not publishing a librarian salary figure here. Government library posts are paid on the civil service salary grade system rather than a market rate, and there is no published Philippine wage series for private-sector librarians we would stand behind. Our salary grade table guide explains how government pay is structured if the public sector is your plan.
Where to Study BLIS
BLIS is offered by a modest number of Philippine schools, and the licence requirement makes school choice consequential: you want a programme whose graduates actually sit and pass the licensure exam.
UP Diliman, through its School of Library and Information Studies, runs a four-year 138-unit BLIS and has the longest institutional history in the field in the country, having offered the first master's programme in library science in the Philippines from 1962.
When comparing programmes, check: whether the school holds current CHED authority for BLIS specifically, where practicum students are placed across the four library types, whether the six ICT courses are taught by people who use those systems, and what the department's licensure performance looks like. Our guide to CHED-accredited schools explains how to verify programme authority.
Students coming from the HUMSS strand usually find the research and information-service side familiar, though nothing in the curriculum requires a specific strand.
Ready to compare schools? Browse schools on SchoolFinderPH to see programmes and locations across the country.
Sources
- Commission on Higher Education — CMO No. 24, series of 2015, Revised Policies, Standards and Guidelines for the Bachelor of Library and Information Science (BLIS) Program
- Republic Act No. 9246 — Philippine Librarianship Act of 2003 (LawPhil)
- Professional Regulation Commission — Professional Regulatory Boards
- Commission on Higher Education — 2021 CHED Memorandum Orders listing
- UP School of Library and Information Studies — BLIS programme
- SchoolFinderPH — Courses with Board Exams
