The Department of Library and Information Science at Banaras Hindu University is one of the pioneer Department in the field of Library and Information Science education in India. The Department was established in 1941. The Department has been served by a number of eminent scholars namely Dr. S. R. Ranganathan, Professor P. N. Kaula, C. G. Vishwanathan, J. S. Sharma, Professor B. Guha, Professor J. B. Subrahmaniam, Professor Y. P. Dubey and Professor S. N. Singh etc. Presently, Department is blooming under the able leadership of Professor H. N. Prasad. The Department conducts 2-years integrated Master of Library & Information Science (M.L.I.S.) Programme. Apart from M.L.I.S. Course, Department conducts Research Programme for the award of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree. Department has recently started a special course of study (self finance) Post Graduate Diploma in Manuscriptology (PGDM) which aims to provide education and training of handling Manuscripts - its storage, preservation, conservation, study and use.

The Department initiated Diploma Course in Librarianship, second of its kind in India after Madras University in 1942. In 1961, Diploma course was converted to Bachelor Degree Course with necessary modifications in course content. The course has been discontinued from 2005 onward. Department introduced One year Master of Library and Information Science (M.L.I.S.) Programme in the 1965 second after University of Delhi in order to train specialist librarians for specialized libraries. From 2005 onwards Department has introduced Two years integrated Master of Library and Information Science (M.L.I.S.) programme as per guidelines of Curriculum Development Committee (CDC) of the University Grant Commission (UGC). Ph.D. course was initiated in the Department in 1980. Ninteen (19) Doctoral dissertations so far have been successfully defended at Department for the award of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.).