SHIH

11 I. & N. Dec. 847

• Court: Board of Immigration Appeals
• Decided: July 1, 1966
• Docket: 1653
• Status: Published

Opinion

Interim Decision *1658

MATTER or Sum In Visa Petition Proceedings A-13738305 . Decided by District Director September 13, 1966 Since a person with a master's degree in library science or the equivalent thereof is classifiable as a member of the professions within the meaning of section 101(a) (32) of the Immigration and Nationality Ait, as amended by P.L. 89-236, a visa petition is approved to accord beneficiary, who has a master's degree in library science, preference classification under sec- tion 203(a) (3) of the Aet as a librarian.

Discussion: The petition was filed to 'accord the beneficiary a• third preference elwAification as a member of the professions based upon her qualifications as a librarian. The beneficiary is a female, native and citizen of China, age 34, presently residing in Bowie, Maryland. Her husband, a physician, is at Alberta University Hos- pital, Edmonton, Canada. The beneficiary received a bachelor of arts 'degree in 1956 from National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, and a master of arts degree in library science in May 1965 from Appalachian State Teachers College,- Boone, North Carolina. She has been employed as a librarian from July 1965 to date by Bowie Sttite College, Bowie, Maryland. The beneficiary:intends to work in the United States as a professional librarian. A. certification pursuant to section 212(a) (14) of the Act, as - amended, has been issued by the Department of Libor. Librarians are listed among professional occupations under code 0-23 in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, Volans II, second edition, prepared by the United States Department of Labor. In the third edition of the above - publication, librarians are listed under professional, technical, and managerial occupations, code 100. Duties of the librarian include selecting, acquiring, cataloging, classifying, circulating, and maintaining library materials; furnish- ing reference, bibliographical, and readers' advisory services. The Occupational Outlook Hiindbook, 1966-67. editi(M, of the United 847 Interim Decision #1653 States Department of Labor, states that to qualify as a professional librarian, one must ordinarily have completed a course of study in a graduate library school. This usually means at least five years of college—four to meet requirements for a bachelor's degree and a fifth year or more of specialized study in library science, after which the master's degree is conferred. For those interested. in top ad- ministrative posts or the special libraries field, a doctorate in a scientific subject field is also highly desirable. In 1965 about 72,000 people were employed as full-time professional librarians. Joan Dorn Clarke, librarian of Boston's noted Girls' Latin School and author of "Your Future as a Librarian", published in 1963, and Sarah Leslie Wallace, public relations officer of the Minneapolis Public Library and author of "So You Want to be a Librarian", published in 1963, agree that a master's degree in library science is a basic career requirement for the librarian. It is concluded that a person with a master's degree in library science or the equivalent thereof is a member of the professions within the , Meaning of sections 101(a) (32) and 203(a) (0 of the Act, as amended. The applicant is entitled to classification as a member of the professions by virtue of her educational attainments. ORDER: It is ordered that the petition be approved and the beneficiary accorded third preference under section 203(a) (3) of the Immigration. and Nationality Act, as amended.