$21,280 starting salary in a Virginia public library system
February 4, 2007 library workers' compensation No CommentsThe February 2, 2007 edition of the Newport News (VA) Daily Press includes an article reporting that librarians working for the Blackwater Regional Library System receive a starting salary of $21,280. The system will conduct a study comparing its salaries to those of other area public libraries.
My letter to the editor on this topic follows:
There is really no need for a study. The study will, however, provide quantitative evidence to support the self-evident–that $21,280 is a paltry starting salary for a professional with a master's degree (who may be carrying sizeable student debt incurred while earning that degree). A study of salaries in other libraries in the region won't, however, tell the whole story.
The market for librarians, like the market for other professionals, is national. The 2006 salary study for librarians compiled by the Allied Professional Association, an affiliate of the American Library Association, shows that in public and college libraries the average salary was $56,259 and the mean was $50,976. In January APA's governing Council approved a resolution endorsing “a minimum salary for professional librarians of not less than $40,000 per year.”
The question isn't whether or not the Blackwater Regional Library's starting salary for professionals should be raised. The question is how quickly it can nearly double.
I'll let you know if the paper publishes my letter.
