Louise Rider: When Library Science Meets Music

Louise Rider MLIS ’13 is proving that a master’s degree in library and information science can help advance a career beyond the walls of a traditional library.

Rider enrolled in Dominican University’s MLIS program with a goal of becoming a music producer at Another Country, a sound design studio, where she started as an audio assistant in 2008.

So where does library science fit in at Another Country’s postproduction sound work on Superbowl commercials and independent films?

“A lot of what the producers deal with is library-based,” Rider said. “At the time, I was very interested in the music libraries we work with. I went to Dominican knowing I wanted a corporate library job.”

When a commercial or film makes its way to Another County, the company may be tasked with finding the right music for it. That music is selected from large, digitized music libraries from around the world. One library alone consists of over 800,000 tracks, so knowing how to best utilize the databases to find the right sound is crucial. 

Rider said her Dominican courses helped with that skill. In 2022, she was named executive producer of Another Country, fulfilling a career goal.

“When people think of MLIS degrees and librarianship, they might not think of this part of it,” Rider noted. “Public and school libraries are very popular, but there is this whole other work you can really get into.”