Best programs to become a librarian in South Dakota
2 South Dakota schools offer programs that train librarians and media collections specialists, graduating 23 people a year. Librarians and media collections specialists in South Dakota earn a median of $51,210 across about 490 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
BLS lists a master's degree as the typical entry-level education for librarians and media collections specialists. The field of study that leads most directly to this job in South Dakota is Educational/Instructional Technology (IPEDS completions).
Administer and maintain libraries or collections of information, for public or private access through reference or borrowing.
1 program in South Dakota that leads to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in South Dakota (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own South Dakota page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 13.0501In South Dakota → | 23 | 100.0% | 2 | $40,786 | $33,629 |
Top 2 schools in South Dakota
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 2 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dakota State University Madison, SD Public · 1 feeder program | 19 | Educational/Instructional Technology | — | 51% | — | 88% |
| 2 | Northern State University Aberdeen, SD Public · 1 feeder program | 4 | Educational/Instructional Technology | — | 49% | — | 93% |
All 2 schools in South Dakota
Every school in South Dakota with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dakota State University | Madison | Public | 19 | 1 |
| Northern State University | Aberdeen | Public | 4 | 1 |
Fields of study in South Dakota that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
What librarians and media collections specialists earn in South Dakota
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $68,270. South Dakota pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: South Dakota employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in South Dakota
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Librarians and Media Collections Specialists page.
How to become a librarian
- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in South Dakota
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 5 majors mapped to Librarians and Media Collections Specialists5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.0501Educational/Instructional Technology
- 13.1334School Librarian/School Library Media Specialist
- 25.0101Library and Information Science
- 25.0102Children and Youth Library Services
- 25.0199Library Science and Administration, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing librarians and media collections specialists programs in South Dakota.
What degree do you need to become a librarian?+
BLS lists a master's degree as the typical entry-level education for librarians and media collections specialists. The field of study that leads most directly to this job in South Dakota is Educational/Instructional Technology (IPEDS completions).
Which college majors lead to becoming a librarian?+
The field of study that leads most directly to this job in South Dakota is Educational/Instructional Technology (IPEDS completions). In all, 1 feeder program graduates about 23 people a year in South Dakota (IPEDS completions).
How much do librarians and media collections specialists earn in South Dakota?+
The median is $51,210 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 25.0% below the U.S. median of $68,270. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for librarians and media collections specialists growing?+
BLS projects a +1.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 13,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in South Dakota?+
2 institutions in South Dakota reported graduates from at least one of the 1 program that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do librarians and media collections specialists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Librarian, Media Specialist, Reference Librarian, Library Media Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-4022.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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