During the 1930 summer session, Indiana University offered its first class for the preparation of school librarians. The class was taught through the School of Education and was offered only in the summer until 1938, when the class was expanded and offered throughout the entire school year. That same year, Margaret I. Rufsvold came to I.U. to help develop the Library Science curriculum.

In 1947, the Division of Library Science (DLS) was established within the School of Education, with Rufsvold as its director. DLS offered an undergraduate program consisting of eighteen semester hours of work and ten graduate semester hours that were only offered in the summer. At the time, the Division concentrated on training individuals for work in school and public libraries. Students focusing on school librarianship were granted a school librarian's provisional certificate in the library science area. The certificate was valid for five years and could be converted to a first-grade certificate if a Master's degree was acquired. In 1949, the curriculum was expanded to include a five year program that would lead to a Master of Arts with a major in Library Science.

In 1951, DLS moved to the new Education Building. The program grew further to include two new degrees. The first was a Master of Arts degree with a major in Library Science for persons interested in becoming school librarians. The second was offered jointly through the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Medicine, and was a Bachelor of Science degree in Medical Record Librarianship. That same year the American Library Association (ALA) adopted new standards for accreditation of library schools. In April 1953, after two years of preparation, the DLS was granted accreditation by the ALA.

In the early 1960's discussion of a new library building was introduced as the DLS program continued to expand, and by the end of 1964 the Program began to offer courses at the I.U. regional campuses. That same year discussions began to establish a doctoral program in library science, which eventually led to the creation of a Graduate Library School in 1966 and a split between Library Science and the School of Education. The result was The School of Library and Information Science (SLIS).

Rufsvold held the title of Dean for the newly created school for two months before relinquishing her administrative duties in order to teach full time. Charles H. McMullen served as acting dean from August 1966 through June 1967, when Bernard Fry was named to the post, a position he held until his retirement in 1980.

During Fry's tenure, the school was noted nationally and internationally as being in the top five schools in the field. Fry also initiated The Research Center for Library and Information Science, which produced major studies for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Education. He retired from the IU faculty in 1984 and was awarded the title Professor Emeritus of Library Science.

In July of 2013, SLIS merged with the School of Informatics and Computing and became the Department of Information and Library Science.