- "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.
.
Dan, it's as simple as this: some governors get paid very little, at least relative to what they could be making in the private sector. Relevant links:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pewstates.org/projects/stateline/headlines/govs-salaries-range-from-1-to-206500-85899381617 (2007)
http://work.chron.com/state-governors-salary-benefits-1734.html (~2010)
Librarians as a whole are not highly paid, but it's not unreasonable for leaders in the field--especially deans of academic libraries and directors of large public library systems--to make six figures or close to it. So right off the bat, if there are two such librarians in the bottom 11 states, that's 22. Especially for those with a PhD, this really isn't worth any outrage. If you're interested in probing and finding out individuals, some of this information may be publicly available, or at least fair game for a FOIA request.
So interesting to view old comments about whiners and this Dan Fellow from Library journal. Apparently no one else cares except a few commentators here and there. I Agree to Disagree. Librarians are highly paid, paid more than the average person that comes from a history of public perspective.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't until recently that librarians with Library Science Degrees are now working non-benefit part-time jobs giving out a measly 15 to 12 hours a week. Any Librarian that takes those types of jobs are either desperate, dumb, or both. Har there Har there, the mighty librarians are reduced to non-benefit part time 'commoners' like the rest of us. Any librarian that makes students work off of them for free is taking advantage of them. Volunteers/students should not be doing work for librarians unless they are interns or any other work than what was designated.
Thanks for writing!
Delete