Librarian Shortage?
August 15th, 2007AP - “Communities, public schools and universities along the Texas-Mexico border are having a tough time finding and keeping librarians. Offering an average salary of $37,000 for a job that requires a graduate degree, public libraries are competing with corporations that need research specialists and can pay much more.”
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August 15th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
Nice to see my former place of work mentioned (Speer Memorial) - though not in those circumstances. I worked there (and for the area consortium) for seven years and it was always extremely difficult to retain staff (MLS or no) at all of the area libraries.
Partly it’s salary (though the cost of living is quite low), partly it’s the distance from schools that offer the needed degrees, partly it’s overall working conditions (or perception of same). The Rio Grande Initiative that offers MLS degrees to area students via distance education was and is an innovative way to try and address these issues. This is one place where the librarian shortage is real and has been for quite some time.