Highly Compensated Federal Librarians

Twenty-two federal employee librarians make more money than their own state governor!  It likely has nothing to do with safe libraries, but it sure is interesting, and I try to make this blog interesting.  Here, see for yourself:

• "New CRS Report Reveals More Than 77,000 Fed Employees Paid More than Governors of the State in Which They Work," by Office of Senator Tom Coburn, U.S. Senate, 1 June 2011.

  No one would disagree that federal employees deserve to be paid adequately for their work.  We can all agree on the importance of paying highly specialized doctors to care for wounded soldiers and veterans, or skilled engineers for their services.  However, when our nation is over $14 trillion in debt and American families are struggling to make ends meet, this report begs for an explanation of why interior designers, recreation planners, and other public employees are enjoying higher salaries than state governors.

• "77,000 Federal Workers Paid More Than Governors; Government Salaries Put Under Scrutiny," by Stephen Dinan, The Washington Times, 31 May 2011.

• "Federal Employee Salaries and Gubernatorial Salaries," by Wendy Ginsberg, U.S. Congressional Research Service, 6 May 2011.

Does anyone know what positions these 22 librarians hold and in what state?  Does anyone know why they make more than their own state governor?  Please comment below.  Interesting, no?

The American Library Association's Federal & Armed Forces Libraries Round Table (FAFLRT) produces a quarterly newsletter named, "Federal Librarian."  I look forward to seeing what will be reported about this issue.


NOTE ADDED 5 JUNE 2011:

This story was picked up by LISNews, one of the major library news sources:

• "22 Librarians Paid More Than Governors," by Blake Carver, LISNews, 5 June 2011.

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