The course included full-time instructors, such as Charles Gould and Sydney Mitchell and talks by international figures such as Melvil Dewey and Charles Ammi Cutter. The School was held in the basement of the Redpath Library Building. In order to attract working librarians, entrance requirements were basic: one had to be in a library job and have at least a high school education.
Tuition was $5.00.

1906 featured two new courses: Binding and Repairing Books, and Library Buildings, followed in 1907 by Traveling Libraries and Extension Work, and Work with Schools and Children.