Rhoda Garoogian


Rhoda Garoogian was an American author and librarian who served as the Assistant Dean of the Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science beginning in 1977, and Acting Dean from 1989-1991. Much of her scholarship was in the field of education for librarians and practices of library use, and she also co-authored a series of city ranking guides with her husband, Andrew Garoogian.

Education and career

Garoogian obtained her Master of Library and Information Science from Pratt Institute in 1973. She worked as an adjunct reference librarian at Brooklyn College and a visiting instructor at Pratt before being appointed the Assistant Dean of the Library School in 1977. She served in this position until 1989, when she was promoted to Acting Dean.
Throughout her career, she wrote about the information practices of libraries and librarians, as well as about the future of library school education. In 1980, she published an article in the Wilson Library Bulletin about the practices of the Pratt School of Library and Information Science, and about the future of the program. She discussed the importance of technology skills for librarians, highlighting the divergence between librarianship and information science.
When Garoogian became Acting Dean in 1989, enrollment at the school had dropped to below 100 students, and in 1990, the school was downgraded to the Graduate Library and Information Science Department. During Garoogian's tenure as dean, enrollment was doubled, and the program was reinstated as a school.

Publications