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The School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will celebrate its 80th birthday on Sept. 17.

That date in 1931 was the school’s first day of classes. Alumni, students, faculty and staff will gather in front of Manning Hall, home of the school, at 12:30 p.m. for a barbecue tailgate picnic.

After the picnic, Carolina will take on Virginia in football at 3:30 p.m. Tailgate participants from the school can buy game tickets in advance.

The event will kick off a yearlong anniversary celebration.

The kickoff will continue with talks on how the school rose to its present height (tied for No. 1 in U.S. News & World Report in 2009). Alumnus Fred Roper, Ph.D., distinguished dean emeritus of the University of South Carolina’s School of Library and Information Science, will speak at 3 p.m. Sept. 23 in the George Watts Hill Alumni Center. Linda Sue Park, a Korean-American author of picture books and novels for children, will speak at 2 p.m. Sept. 25 in Gerrard Hall.

For more information and a complete list of events, visit http://sils.unc.edu/news/2011/80th-anniversary-kick-off or contact Wanda Monroe at (919) 843-8337 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

School of Information and Library Science contact: Wanda Monroe, (919) 843-8337, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

News Services contact: LJ Toler, (919) 962-8589