Library Worklife

Volume 2, No. 11 • November 2005

Salaries & Pay Equity

Library Journal Placements and Salaries 2004

Closing the Gap

In the October 15, 2005, issue of Library Journal, Stephanie Maatta reports on the results from the 2004 survey. Almost two thousand (1,951) graduates of schools of information and library science responded. "In 2004, graduates reported an average starting salary of $39,079, an increase of 2.91% over the 2003 average of $37,975. ... This remains below the national inflation rate of 3.5% and doesn’t touch the average annual salary growth of the late 1990s (4.35%), but it is a significant improvement over 2003’s 1.48% increase."

The response rate of 40 percentwas the highest in ten years. The majority were employed, (1,779, 92.8 percent) and pproximately 78.5 percent of those employed (1,397) are in full-time positions. Many returned to their current employers. Women’s salaries were 4 percent less than men’s, and the average salary for minorities was 8 percent higher than the overall average ($39,795 compared to $39,079). Full article.

Maatta, Stephanie. "Closing the Gap-Placements and Salaries 2004." Library Journal 130 (Oct. 15, 2005): 26–33.

New Placement Data Just Released from Drexel University College of Information Science and Technology, September 2005

Master of Science (Library and Information Science) 2005 Graduates

Typical Job Titles
- Project Cataloger
- Library Technician
- Senior Research Analyst
- Children’s Librarian
- Electronic Services Librarian
- Research Librarian II
- High School Librarian
- Software Manager
- Senior Information Management Specialist
Average Starting Salary: $40,000
91% responded that their IST education was helpful in preparing them for their job.
91% responded that they would recommend IST to others in the field.

Master of Science in Information Systems 2005 Graduates

Typical Job Titles
- Application Developer
- Systems Engineer
- Project Manager
- System Developer
- Web Developer
- Associate Scientist
Average Starting Salary: $47,000
83% responded that their IST education was very helpful; and 16.7% said it was useful.
66.7% responded that they would recommend IST to others in the field.

School Librarian Salaries for 2004/2005

The Educational Research Service conducted its National Study of Salaries and Wages in Public Schools for 2004/2005. School librarians were included. The results were published in the Apr. 13, 2005, issue of Education Week. It is the first time the data has been weighted. Salaries ranged from a low of $19,018 to a high of $109,918, with an average salary of $50,125. The 2003/2004 figures were a range of $19,523 to $105,940, with an average of $50,403.

Park, Jennifer. “ERS Releases Nationally Representative K–12 Salary Data.” Education Week (Washington) 24 (Apr. 13, 2005): 14–15.

“Salaries and Wages In Public Schools.” Education Week (Washington) 23 (Jun 23, 2004): 16–17.

2004 Teacher Salary Survey

For the first time since the 1999/2000 school year, the average teacher salary failed to keep up with inflation, according to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) latest salary survey. The AFT teacher salary survey found that the average teacher salary in the 2003/2004 school year was $46,597, a 2.2 percent increase from the year before. This falls short of the rate of inflation for 2004, which was 2.7 percent. In addition, many states are attempting to drastically reduce or eliminate pension and healthcare benefits, which were negotiated as part of their compensation.

American Federation of Teachers. “2004 Survey & Analysis of Teacher Salary Trends.” http://www.aft.org/salary/index.htm

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