$40K Minimum Salary? ALA-APA Passes (Nonbinding) Resolution

-- Library Journal, 1/29/2007

Shouldn't librarians earn at least $40,000? Indeed, the American Library Association-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA) voted unanimously to endorse a nonbinding minimum salary for professional librarians of not less than $40,000 a year. Before the measure passed during the ALA Midwinter Meeting in Seattle, it engendered some spirited commentary. Councilor Michael McGrorty, who moved the resolution, described it as "a standard to try to rise to—a reference point." While the salary figure mirrors the minimum established by the National Education Association for public school teachers, some ALA-APA councilors, however, wondered whether the comparison was apt, because teachers generally don't have master's degrees. (Actually, 14% of those surveyed by McGrorty favored $30,000, 28.5% favored $35,000, and 30% favored $40,000.)

Others pointed to the need to revisit the figure because of inflation and the importance of a decent salary to help repay loans. Some suggested that the term "professional" should be specified as those holding LIS degrees from accredited schools. But not one was ready to alter the text before a vote, nor did they reconsider the $40,000 floor. After all, as Vicki Gregory, director of the School of Library and Information Science, University of South Florida, Tampa, noted, LJ had recently reported that starting pay for LIS graduates tops $40,000.