Q: I’m looking to apply for a job, but need advice about negotiating the salary. The job ad outlines the range for the position, which, even at the high end, is still much less than the cost of living (according to my research). Is the salary range typically “set in stone”? In every other way, the position seems ideal for me. However, unless I am able to negotiate a significant increase, if I were offered the job, it will actually translate to making as much, or probably less, than I am making now. I have 2-3 years of professional experience. Will this be viewed as a step down?

SM & TA: This is an excellent question and one that many people will grapple with at some point in their careers. We would like to tell you that all things are negotiable, but that isn’t always the case with salaries. Salary ranges are commonly used in job ads and they do allow for some wiggle room, and space for negotiation, but don’t expect to be able to get a salary above the range. If a range is used (vs. just a starting salary) then the high end of the range is typically the “set in stone” limit.

Salaries are tied to amount of experience, type of job, cost of living, and the salaries of others in the library and in the institution. Also, be aware and conscientious of the fact that everyone wants a higher salary, and the more experience and skills you have, the more likely you will be to get a higher salary — whether that means on the high end of the range, or that you will be able to negotiate beyond the range.

Because salaries vary so much by institution and by role and by city and state, it really doesn’t mean a “stepping down” if you do end up accepting a lower or equal salary somewhere else. Some institutions just cannot offer as much as others for the same job, and this will be something you need to consider, if it comes to it. Also, there are many things, other than the base salary, to take into consideration, such as:

• Benefits: the cost of health benefits can vary at each institution. You can ask about the cost at your interview, and see if the benefits include dental and vision. Also, does the institution offer additional benefits such as reduced-rate child care, or gym membership, or the option to take classes for free?
• Cost of commuting/parking: This can be a huge expense for many people. Find out how much it will be for this new job and compare it to your existing commute.
• Professional development funding: Ask about funding to attend conferences, workshops, and other professional development classes. This is important to keeping current and staying connected with colleagues in the profession, and can be very expensive if you are expected to pay your own way.
• Frequency of raises: You may not want to ask about raises during your interview, but after you are offered a position, it is a perfectly valid question. Some institutions provide cost-of-living raises every year (or every few years). Some positions are unionized and the union negotiates the percentage increases for the raises. It is possible that within a few years your salary could be more than your  salary at your current job, due to frequency of raises.
• Flexibility: Some jobs and institutions will offer more flexibility than others, which can be extremely beneficial for people who need flexible schedules or who may want to work part time for a while (taking care of children, or family members, going to continuing education classes or meetings, etc.).
• Upward mobility: Is there potential to move up in the library? Are there supervisors and levels of structure, or is it a flat management structure where everyone reports to the director? If you see yourself moving into a more managerial position in the future, then you might not stay too long in a position that is in a flat structure, with no possibility of moving upwards. And, if you are motivated and want to move up within a few years, that movement would most likely come with a raise in salary. Ask about the management structure during your interview.
• And, don’t forget your own happiness. Will you be able to grow and learn in this position? Will the position/library/institution/colleagues help to make you a better librarian and allow you to move forward in your career and build meaningful relationships?

Recommendations:

Apply for the job. If this is a job that seems perfect for you, apply for it. Don’t let the salary range influence you at this point. Find out if this is the job you really want, and then plan your strategy.

Do not mention salary until you are offered the position. If you bring this up too early, before you are offered the position, you might give the search committee the impression that you won’t take the job or won’t be satisfied with the salary which will make you sound greedy… after all, they took the job.

Once you are offered the position and you are told what salary they want to start you at, you can bring up your concerns. Let the director (if that is who offers you the position) know what your current salary is and tell her that you would like to get more than that. Let her know that you did your research on the cost-of-living for that city and that you are not sure you can make it on the salary this is offered. She won’t be shocked, this happens all the time, candidates are expected to negotiate. Be sure to let her know how much you do want the job. If they really want you, and there is room, she may try to get you a higher salary. If she cannot, then she will explain to you why and then you will need to weigh your options. Whatever you do, don’t make any quick decisions. Take the time they give you (typically a few days to one week), and ask questions before you make your final decision.

One word of caution: If a hiring institution posts a salary range, and you’re not content to have a salary within that range (even after considering possible additional benefits) and you know that there is no way you can or would accept a position within the listed range, you can call the hiring institution to see if the salary range is firm or if there’s some flexibility. At many institutions, once the range is posted, there’s no flexibility (especially in financially vulnerable times). So if the search committee gets all the way through the search process, having invested lots of time and money in getting to this point, and you decline the offer solely because it’s not enough money, that’s not a very graceful exit. We bring this up especially because you mention that it would be a “significant increase” for the hiring institution.

When you do call, do not identify yourself — which could potentially hurt your chances of interviewing — just ask to speak with someone about the position. You can give a first name only, and simply say “Can you please tell me if the salary range listed for X position is firm or if the salary is negotiable?” Thank them for the response and prepare to weigh your options.

Good luck!

SM: Salary information can be difficult to find – especially when you are seeking current, specific information on a particular type of position. Salaries vary greatly depending on geographic location, years of experience, and type of institution. Several organizations do publish librarian salary information annually. The following sources might not contain the exact information you are looking for, but they might be useful nonetheless.

Maata, Stephanie, “Closing The Gap (Salaries of Reporting Professionals by Area of Job Assignment (Table 6))” Library Journal, Oct 15 2005: 26.
Each Fall, Library Journal publishes a report of salaries for recent library school graduates. This data is for 2004 graduates.

Average Salaries of ARL University Librarians by Position and Years of Experience, FY 2004-05 (Table 20, p. 43) “ARL Annual Salary Survey 2004-05″
This survey reports data for ARL University librarians. It includes tables with information on type of position, years of experience, geographic region, size of staff, type of institution, and sex.

Another, slightly more crafty, way to find out about the most current salaries (for any position) is to monitor librarian job ads. Many ads will list the position’s salary, or a salary range. You can also get a good idea of what kinds of qualifications are required and preferred for a specific salary level, as well as for specific institutions and locations.

Here are a few places to start:

LISjobs.com/Library Job Postings on the Internet
The Chronicle of Higher Education / Chronicle Careers  

ALA Joblist
Canadian Library Association / Career Opportunities
Finally, there are several published salary surveys for sale. These reports contain in-depth information on types of positions, locations, and institutions. Check to see if your local library has any of these:

2005 ALA Survey of Librarian Salaries
2005 SLA Salary Survey & Workplace Study
Salary Survey 2000 / The Canadian Association of Special Libraries and Information Services (CASLIS)

Q: I am a prospective graduate student hoping to enroll in a library science program, and I have a few questions about school librarianship. Do K-12 certifications transfer between states? In other words, if I received certification in Pennsylvania, could I apply for school librarian positions in another state? And, is there a large difference in salary between K-12 librarians and university librarians?

SM: K-12 librarians are generally called library media specialists. Other titles include teacher librarian and school librarian. As in every library, jobs and roles in school libraries can vary significantly. They are, though, very much related to teaching – working closely with teachers and students, creating lesson plans, and participating in curriculum development, as well as providing expertise in library materials and access to information and technology.

Each state has different requirements for certification and licensure, and many states require “school librarians” to be licensed as teachers. While some states do not require a master’s degree in librarianship, having it will give you more flexibility and mobility in the long run, especially if you plan on moving to a different state or eventually switching to a different type of library or position.

To start with, look at the American Association of School Librarians Library Education & Licensing page. They have a lot of good information here (and on the their site in general), including a link to NCATE (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education) and a list of approved and reviewed school library media programs.

You may also want to read the ALA/AASL Standards for Initial Programs for School Library Media Specialist Preparation, to learn more about the goals and expectations of the school library media program as they relate to three critical areas of service: teaching and learning, information access and delivery, and program administration.

As for transferring your certification, the good news is that many states will accept certification from another state, also called licensing reciprocity. If you move to another state, it is up to you to check with the certifying agency to see if your certificates or licenses are transferable or accepted.

Librarian salaries are dependent on the specific institution, the location, the position, the economy and much, much more. However, to get an idea of what new librarians are making, the most recent salary survey in Library Journal (published each October), lists the average salary for newly-graduated school librarians as $40,737 – slightly higher than the $37,981 average for academic librarians.

Other useful web sites:

Resources for School Librarians, developed by a retired teacher librarian, contains links to informative sites for certification, jobs, continuing education, collection development and more.

Check to see if your state (or the state you plan on moving to) has a school library association, something akin to the following, which just might turn out to be an excellent resource for information, resources and networking.

• California School Library Association
• Illinois School Library Media Association
• Maine Association of School Libraries
• Pennsylvania School Librarians’ Association

Examples of School Library Associations, beyond the United States:

• Australian School Library Association, Inc.
• Canadian Association for School Libraries
• International Association of School Librarianship (IASL)
• School Library Association in the United Kingdom

Q: Hello! I’m in my first semester of LIS school. I like almost all of my classes so far, and, of course, want to enjoy the job I get after graduation, but I also need to make enough money to pay off loans. How do I choose the right specialty for me?

SM: This is a question that many soon-to-be librarians struggle with during school. Not only do you want to be happy and fulfilled in your future profession, you want to make a decent living once you get a job. So, how does a student choose a specialty? Since you are in your first semester, you have time to learn about different types of jobs and explore the various paths of librarianship. My advice to you is to get experience, talk to people in the profession, do some reading, look at job ads, and ask yourself some personal, but important questions.

It is difficult to know if you will really enjoy working in a specific area (e.g., cataloging, reference, instruction) or environment (e.g., public, academic, special) without actually spending some time in that area or environment. If feasible, get a job or volunteer in order to gain some hands-on experience in an area (or areas) that interest you. If working or volunteering is not possible, the next-best thing is to talk with librarians working in different types of libraries and in different roles, and find out what they do. Also, utilize your library school’s career services center; talk to a career advisor and see what kinds of resources and tools she recommends to assist you in choosing a specialty. Some schools have mentoring programs. These match students with a librarian who is working in their area of interest and encourage them to learn about library operations, discuss professional issues and topics, and collaborate with on-the-job librarians.

If you haven’t yet, search out library-related journals, web sites, and blogs that cover different areas of the profession. This is a great way to learn about new research, tools, resources, and technology. Also, keep an eye on the job ads. Read the job descriptions closely to find out what types of jobs are available, what skills and qualifications the positions require, and the pay different institutions offer for various positions.

Finally, ask yourself, what environment do you see yourself in: academic, public, school, special, or other (non-library)? How much does environment matter to you? Within these environments, the specialties are too numerous to name. Also note that a systems librarian at an academic library may be very similar to a systems librarian at a special library, or at a public library. Do you like working with children, with a diverse population, with graduate students? Are you analytical or extroverted, do you have a passion for music, or a second masters in Italian or mathematics? There are so many different factors you need to consider when trying to figure out what type of librarian you would like to be. Not to sound too obvious, but chances are you already have many assets and strengths that favor a specific area of librarianship – you just need to figure out what they might be.

Librarianship is a very diverse profession, and today’s constantly- changing library landscape compels librarians to take on many roles and wear many hats. This is the main reason why I love this profession. I must admit that I have myself changed my mind several times, while in school and after, and I’ve held a variety of roles and titles in all different kinds of libraries. Remember that, no matter what specialty you ultimately choose, you can always change your outlook and try something else. With that in mind, don’t feel too much pressure to decide on a specific specialty just yet. For now, have fun exploring your options!

Check out these sites for more information on specialties and salaries:

The ABC’s of library specialties
ALA’s Careers in Libraries
ARL Salary Survey
LIScareer.com Career Planning Section (includes articles, links, and a listing of print resources)
Lisjobs.com Advice Section – Specialties Within the Profession

Placements and Salaries 2003: Jobs! (Eventually)
(Be sure to look at the tables accompanying the article, especially “Salaries of Reporting Professionals by Area of Job Assignment.”)