About the
1998 MAINE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION
PUBLIC LIBRARY SALARY SURVEY
The 1998 Maine Library Association (MLA) Public Library Salary Survey
was created to provide comparative information regarding salaries in
Maine public libraries. The web database development work
was done by Karl Beiser of the Maine
State Library. This report is sorted by population for ease
of comparison between libraries of similar size.
Every library in the state was encouraged to participate in the
survey. The survey database/report includes data on 520 positions
within 133 libraries statewide. Using current position descriptions
where available, the person filling out the survey was asked to
include every position (excluding maintenance) in their library using
the following titles/definitions (note these titles are a thesaurus
not a hierarchy):
Head Librarian/Director
The person in this position is responsible for the overall operation
of the library including, but not limited to budget, personnel,
policy implementation, and facilities management.
Librarian
The person in this position holds a Master's Degree in Library or
Information Science and may or may not supervise others. This
professional may serve in an administrative or support position
such as Technical Services or Assistant Director or in a public
positions such as Reference or Children's Services.
Associate
The person in this position is expected to have a Bachelor's Degree
in a relevant field and may or may not supervise others. Examples
include: Reference, Technical Services, Assistant Director.
Technical Assistant
The person in this position is expected to have at least two years of
college level study and may work in Children's Services, Technical Services, Circulation
or other areas.
Aide/Clerk
The person in this position is expected to have at least a high
school education and may work in Children's Services, Technical
Services, Circulation or other areas.
Other
This designation would be for other paid staff including pages and
shelvers.
All Volunteer
Within the context of the survey database/report, this designation
was given to libraries that reported having no paid staff. This
title was not in the original instructions.
The person filling out the survey was also asked to provide specific
information (as of June 1, 1998) about the person currently in each
position. The following information was requested:
Pay rate/hour (not rounded off) Average hours per week Years in current position Years in library field (all library experience after high school
graduation) Highest educational attainment using the following codes:
MLS: MLS, MLIS, MSLS
M: Non-related Master's Degree
BL: Bachelor's in Library Science/Technology
BA or BS: Bachelor's Degree
AL: Associate's in Library Science
A: Associate's Degree
C: Come college without degree attained
TC: Technical School Certificate
HS: High School Diploma
HS Stud: High School Student (code not in original instructions.)
Duties performed (all that apply). Within the database/report
the following duty codes are used:
ACQUISTNS: acquisitions
ADMIN: administration
ASST DIR: assistant director
BDGT ADM: budget administration
CATALOG: cataloging
CHILDREN: children's
CIRCULAT: circulation
DEPT HD: department head
I L LOAN: interlibrary loan
ADM ASST: office manager/administrative assistant
OUTREACH: outreach
PROGRAM: programming
REFERE: reference
SYSTEMS ADM: systems administration
TECH SERV: technical services/processing
VOL SUPER: volunteer supervisor
YOUNG ADULT: young adult
SERIALS: periodicals/serials management
The person filling out the survey was also asked to provide
information about the library. Within the database/report, the
following codes are used:
TOWN DEPT: city or town department
WAGE SCALE: wage/salary scale
FT STAFF: number of full-time staff
HRS = FT: full-time= ____hours/week
PT STAFF: number of part-time staff
VOLUNTEERS: number of volunteers
The person filling out the survey was also asked to give information
regarding benefits
This report was proofread several times but errors do happen. Please
bring any error to the attention of a Salary Survey Committee member
(listed below.)
Thank you to everyone who participated in this survey.
MLA PUBLIC LIBRARY SALARY SURVEY COMMITTEE
Pamela Turner, Chair
Baxter Memorial Library
71 South Street
Gorham, Maine 04038
839-5031
839-7749 fax pturner@baxter-memorial.lib.me.us
Jodi Crawford
Lithgow Public Library
Winthrop Street
Augusta, Maine 04330
626-2415
Nancy Crowell
Scarborough Public Library
48 Gorham Road
Scarborough, Maine 04074
883-4723
Inese Gruber
Windham Public Library
217 Windham Center Road
Windham, Maine 04062
892-1908