Georgia Perimeter College offers a two-year library science degree through the campuses surrounding Atlanta, including Decatur, Clarkston, Dunwoody, Alpharetta, and Tucker. All campuses are located about 85 miles from Toccoa Falls. Since it is an associate degree program, the courses include largely basic studies such as composition, algebra and social studies. However, the degree also requires courses in business and at least one semester's worth of classes that focus on libraries, such as computers in libraries, libraries and media centers and acquisitions and technical processing.
Georgia College in Milledgeville, 125 miles south of Toccoa, is one of the closest schools offering a master's degree in library science. A master's degree is typically required for jobs within libraries. This degree requires 36 credit hours beyond the bachelor's degree. Instruction is delivered in traditional classrooms and through online courses in classes with titles like models of inquiry, selection of library media and operation of the library media center. Built primarily for teachers, the program also requires coursework in educational and teaching issues as well as an internship.
Students wishing to remain in Georgia for a library science degree from a different institution will need to travel 300 miles south to Valdosta State University in Valdosta. Valdosta's master of library and information science degree requires 39 hours of advanced study. This program may be a viable option for those in the Toccoa Falls area since courses are hybrid format, presented online and in traditional classrooms. Valdosta even varies the setting for classes based upon convenience for students.
Students who do not mind paying out-of-state tuition can find a library science master's program at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, South Carolina, 160 miles from Toccoa Falls. This 36-hour program also has a distance education component. The unique aspect of USC's degree is that students choose from a large selection of courses in library science, including those from other educational institutions, to tailor the degree to their own career goals.