Matter of Shih (Board decision, September 13, 1966)

Plain-English summary

A visa petition sought third preference classification for a Chinese librarian living in Maryland. She had earned a master's degree in library science and worked as a librarian at Bowie State College. The District Director reviewed occupational descriptions and concluded that a master's degree in library science, or its equivalent, qualified a person as a member of the professions. The Department of Labor had issued the required certification. The District Director approved the petition and granted third preference classification.

Decision snapshot

• Cited authorities: Immigration and Nationality Act §§ 101(a)(32), 203(a)(3), and 212(a)(14).
• Outcome: Visa petition approved; beneficiary accorded third preference classification.
• Key point: A master's degree in library science qualified the beneficiary as a professional librarian for the visa preference at issue.

Full text (BIA official public release)

Interim Decision #1653

MATTER OF SHIH

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 Act, 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 section 203(a)(3) of the Act as a librarian.

Discussion: The petition was filed to accord the beneficiary a third preference classification 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 Hospital, 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 State 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 Labor.

Librarians are listed among professional occupations under code 0-23 in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, Volume 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; furnishing reference, bibliographical, and readers' advisory services. The Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1966-67 edition, of the United 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 administrative 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)(3) 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.