Library Worklife

Statistics

Preparation for the new ALA-APA Support Staff Salary Survey

One of ALA-APA's first publications will be a Support Staff Salary Survey, which will replace and extend the survey that had been conducted every three years by Library Mosaics , which was featured in the January issue of Library Worklife. To ensure that terms that adequately reflect positions are used, a question asking the titles that libraries use to describe support staff is the supplemental question in the 2004 ALA Librarian Salary Survey. Public and academic libraries will receive the survey in the coming months. Results of the 2003 ALA Librarian Salary Survey.

What alternative compensation plans has your library tried?

Survey Results from Library Worklife, Volume 1, Number 3

Question: Which of the following alternative compensation plans has your library or library system tried?

This survey received responses from 121 LW readers, far less than usual. Is this because alternative pay plans have not been tried by many libraries? The most frequently cited method is pay for performance, when compensation is linked to performance during a rating system. Least often used are success sharing, supplemental or temporary pay, and broadbanding. Two of these topics are covered in this month's newsletter.

Who wants to be a librarian? New Bureau of Labor Statistics listing.

Here is the Earnings Section of the BLS Report on Librarians

EARNINGS—Salaries of librarians vary according to the individual's qualifications and the type, size, and location of the library. Librarians with primarily administrative duties often have greater earnings. Median annual earnings of librarians in 2002 were $43,090. The middle 50 percent earned between $33,560 and $54,250. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $24,510, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $66,590. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of librarians in 2002 were as follows:

Elementary and secondary schools	$45,660
Colleges, universities, and professional schools	45,600
Local government	37,970
Other information services	37,770

The average annual salary for all librarians in the Federal Government in nonsupervisory, supervisory, and managerial positions was $70,238 in 2003.

Nearly one in three librarians is a member of a union or is covered under a union contract.