Want more money? Ask!

My friend and editor, the ever-amazing currator and librarian extraordinare (why yes, I AM kissing up... however did you guess?) Lynne Thomas wrote a great blog post about something librarians, especially FEMALE librarians have trouble with--salary negotiation.


I'm guilty of this myself--I was raised in an Italian-American household where it was rude to "put anyone out" by asking for anything they weren't willing to give you already... especially if you were a girl. Be polite, be gracious, and don't rock the boat.


I think that while women have come a long way in the last hundred years, librarianship is still viewed as a "woman's profession," like nursing and teaching, and therefore automatically does not command the respect it deserves. It was viewed as a job for spinsters, older ladies, and a job that women would do until they were married or pregnant, then quit. Also, the stigma is attached to many professions traditionally staffed mostly by women--it's not intellectually rigerous or "important," since it's not "man's work." No one will say that out loud today (if they have any sense, at least) but that latent attitude still colors how people view the monitory worth of those professions.


Lynne makes a great point that negotating salary helps YOU get more money, but it also helps the profession, and other librarians. It does this by bringing up the base salary, and stating to hiring institutions that librarians, professionals with masters degrees (and sometimes loads of student loan debt), experience and smarts are worth more. It helps institutions and local governments accept the reality that they WONT find a serious, skilled professional to do the job of librarian for less than a livable wage.


I learned so much at my first librarian job, but they kept me at 35 hours a week, and well below an actual livable wage because they DIDN'T value professionals. In fact, I sought employment elsewhere when they went from wondering why they needed someone with a masters to do the job to wondering why they couldn't just staff the library entirely with volunteers. I saw the writing ont he wall then. The library's board was full of people who DID care about the library, and they weren't being malicious. They just genuinely did NOT understand what a librarian did, and the value of having someone with education and experience in the position.


So read Lynne's post, and practice these three important sentences:
"I'm really excited about this opportunity. However, the offer is a little below my range. Can we do any better, say [name a number $5000 more than offer on table?]"


Don't just do it for yourself, but do it for the profession and for advocacy!