Spotlight

• My Non-Degreed Librarian

  By Angela Santamaria, M.Ln., Library Manager, Washington State University Extension Energy Program Library, Olympia

  Originally published in the March 2004 issue of Alki: The Washington Library Association Journal (themed Non-Librarian Librarians).

  When I was a graduate student in a Directed Fieldwork internship at a local college library, I worked with a member of the reference staff who was a specialist in film. Though she had a master’s in English Literature and a formidable background in film, she had no graduate … Read the rest

• Non-librarian Librarian

  Another Path to Professionalism

  By Martha Parsons

  Editor’s note: This was originally published in the March 2004 issue of Alki: The Washington Library Association Journal (themed Non-Librarian Librarians).

  When I first heard about the theme for the March 2004 issue of Alki, I knew I needed to write something about my experience as a library support staff worker doing the job of a librarian, but I was worried about how I could tactfully tell the story. After talking with both … Read the rest

ALA-APA News

• Orange County Library System Union Contract Renewal Update

  Submitted by John Henkle

  Negotiations continue at the Orange County Library System in Orlando for the professional unit contract renewal. The previous contract expired June 14, but all provisions remain in force except pay raises and COPE deductions which management refused to continue withholding. The last 2 sessions have yielded some progress with agreement reached on most non-economic issues.

  The main economic items still under discussion involve parity. The union is seeking to obtain benefits extended to other employees after … Read the rest

• ALA-APA Establishes a Union Electronic Discussion List

  ALA-APA has established an electronic discussion list for those who are interested in and participating in unions. It is an open forum for asking questions, sharing news and carrying on discussions. To subscribe, send an e-mail to apa-union-subscribe@ala-apa.org.… Read the rest

• As Political Conventions Hit Headlines, Libraries Help Citizens “Register to Vote @ your library®”

  Libraries can register online for free program materials through September

  With the Democratic National Convention wrapping up in Boston this week and the Republican National Convention poised to begin in just one month, the upcoming Presidential election is dominating the headlines. Among all of the growing chatter, libraries across the country are helping their communities be prepared to make an informed decision when they head to the polls in November.

  One way libraries are helping citizens get ready is by … Read the rest

• Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Round Table Changes Dues

  GLBTRT now has the following categories of membership and dues, beginning in September 2004:

  • $15.00 regular member
  • $5.00 student member
  • $20.00 corporate/organization member

  … Read the rest

• Special Library Association’s Diversity Leadership Development Program

  www.sla.org/content/SLA/awardsrecognition/awardsdescriptions/dlpnomform.cfm … Read the rest

• No Room for Poverty Rally

  The Community Action Partnership is holding the “No Room for Poverty” National Rally September 4, 2004, on the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. to unify the nation around the need to end poverty. Focus on five key areas: health care, jobs, housing, education, and the Digital Divide. The Partnership is calling for a White House Conference on American Poverty because they believe that only the White House can assemble expert theorists, practitioners, and policymakers needed to address this issue. They also … Read the rest

• Educator’s Reference Desk Seeks Volunteers

  “The Educator’s Reference Desk [a project of the Information Institute of Syracuse] is looking for librarians to help maintain the online resource collection available at this Web site. The collection focuses specifically on the practice and theory of education. Interested volunteers should be familiar with sources of education information on the Internet, have experience with Internet search tools and evaluation of online information sources, and have a basic knowledge of html or web-editing software (e.g. FrontPage).”

  As you may recall, … Read the rest

• Library Disparity Shows up in Salary

  Workers at Small Sites Struggle with Benefits

  By Victor Greto
  06/29/2004, www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/06/29librarydisparit.html

  As director of the Frankford Public Library, Joan Loewenstein gets to talk to patrons regularly about their lives, the weather, their kids and their interests.

  She’s surrounded by stuffed shelves of books and works in the town she’s grown to love.

  But in the job that has become her second career, she only makes about $25,000 a year and gets no benefits.

  She’s just started a distance-learning, two-year … Read the rest

Career Advancement

• Things Making Libraries Look Stupid

  By Chris Rippel

  Editor’s note: Chris also published a slightly modified version of this article in the July/August CKLS POST.

  Chris Rippel compiled this informal survey after he realized that the front staff did not know where library policies could be found. He figured that things like this happen all the time, and decided to make a list of things that all library staff should know to publish in his newsletter, the CKLS POST. He asked members of two electronic … Read the rest

Certification

• Core Competencies for Library Practitioners

  The Western Council of State Libraries (WCSL) asked the entire library community to rate the core competencies that non-MLS directors of small, usually rural, public libraries need to manage the daily operations of the library. Responses were due by August 6, 2004. These competencies address “administration and management, philosophy, ethics, history, and trends in public librarianship, services to the public, collection development and management, technical and support services, technologies in libraries and generally, basic workplace skills and personal competencies.”

  Respondents … Read the rest

HR Practice

• Planning for Retirement

  “The Times They Are A-Changin’”

  By Paula Singer, Ph.D., and Linda Goldberg, SPHR, CCP

  With a population bulge of baby boomers approaching the prototypical “retirement” years, millions of people are asking themselves how to plan for retirement. A better question to consider: What is retirement?

  Defining the Terms

  Baby boomers, whose parents were born during the Depression, may have outdated notions of what retirement is. Their parents, born to a turn-of-the-century generation with a life expectancy of about 40 years, … Read the rest

Salaries

• Commentary on the Wage Gap

  By Warren Gray, Southeast Community College, Kentucky Community and Technical College System

  Back in May, ALA-APA included in its newsletter a short article about what is called “Equal Pay Day,” April 20, 2004. Allegedly, this is the day upon which a woman who started working Jan. 1, 2003, catches up with what a man who started to work that same day had earned within the calendar year 2003. The article included a statement about the “wage gap,” saying that … Read the rest

• Library Workers: Facts & Figures

  Everything you need in one sheet! The Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO, has compiled this fact sheet on demographics, salaries and union participation for library workers. Note: This does not include statistics collected by the American Library Association’s Annual Librarian Salary Survey—www.ala.org/ala/ors/reports/alasalarysurveysummary.htm.

  Fact Sheet 2004–2005

  The Numbers

  • In 2002, there were 167,000 librarians, 119,000 library technicians, and 120,000 library assistants.¹
  • In 2012, there will be 184,000 librarians, 139,000 library technicians, and 146,000 library assistants, according to Bureau

  … Read the rest

Statistics

• 2004 Library Staff Salaries

  Bibliography of Selected Sources

  Compiled by Steve Fesenmaier, WVLC State Data Coordinator, July 1, 2004

  • AFL/CIO (American Federation of Labor/Congress of Industrial Organizations). Living wage. Internet on-line. Available from www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/livingwage.

  • AFSCME (American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees). LaborLinks including Living and Minimum Wage. Internet on-line. Available from www.afscme.org/otherlnk/weblnk30.htm. [July 1, 2004]

  • ALA-APA (American Library Association-Allied Professional Association), New affiliate of ALA created to lobby for improving library staff salaries. Internet on-line. Available from www.ala-apa.org. [July 1,

  … Read the rest

• Comments on West Virginia Public Libraries Salary Survey 2004

  By Steve Fesenmaier, State Data Coordinator, WV Library Commission

  Every two years The West Virginia Library Commission surveys salaries for its 97 main libraries. This is only the second time that the results have been posted to the agency’s Web site.

  This year we decided to post tables that show the information for our public libraries based on the service population and expenditures. Libraries with larger populations and larger expenditures usually pay their staff higher salaries.

  This year for the … Read the rest

Support Staff

• The Institute for Museum and Library Services to Survey Training Programs for Library Staff

  The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) conducted a study to identify and analyze education and training programs for non-MLS-degreed library staff in the United States (e.g., pre-professional, paraprofessional, library technicians, media specialists).

  The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the Nation’s libraries, and as such, is committed to building the capacity of libraries to serve the public. Although the basic credential for professional library service is the Masters in Library … Read the rest

Work/Life

• Did You Know That October Is National Work and Family Month?

  In September 2003, the US Senate passed Resolution 210 to declare October as National Work and Family Month, sponsored by Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). With the passage of the resolution, a multiyear initiative grew, called the National Work-Life Initiative. According to “Families and Work Institute’s (FWI) National Study of the Changing Workforce, work-life support programs significantly affect employee productivity, retention and commitment. The study found that 70 percent of hourly and salaried employees who … Read the rest

HR Law

• When State HR Laws Change

  One source for finding out, on a monthly basis, whether your state has added or amended Human Resource Related Laws is www.hrcomply.com/index.law.html.

  This site is provided by Ceridian, which publishes electronic HR compliance tools and workforce-training courseware.

  Ceridian also offers an electronic newsletter covering new developments in topics like wage laws, benefits, and workman’s compensation. The June 23 rd issue related that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ (CA, OR, WA, AZ, MNT ID, NV, AK, HI) upheld Berkeley, … Read the rest