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College & Research Libraries News

Academic librarian salaries, 1987-1988

By Mary Jo Lynch

Director

ALA Office for Research

A summary of the CUP A survey of administrative compensation.

The College and University Personnel Association (CUPA) has conducted a survey of administrative compensation each year for the past eleven years. Selection of surveyed positions is based on an analysis of those positions common to most higher education institutions. Tables on librarian salaries drawn from CUPA’s 1986-1987 Administrative Compensation Survey were published in the December, 1987 C&RL News. This article shows librarian salaries from the 1987-1988 edition. Permission of CUPA to use their data in this way is gratefully acknowledged.¹

The 1987-1988 CUPA survey reports on 165 positions, including “Director, Library Services,” “Circulation Librarian,” “Acquisitions Librarian,” “Technical Services Librarian” “Public Services Librarian,” and “Reference Librarian.” For all positions, salaries are summarized for control (i.e., public or private), three levels of program (i.e., university, 4-year college, 2-year college), enrollment by quartile, and budget size by quartile. Tables in this article were created manually by selecting data on library director’s salaries wherever they appear on the fifty-seven basic tables in the CUPA report. In addition, summary tables are shown for the five other librarian positions. Detailed tables, similar to those shown for Director, have been prepared for the five other positions and are available from CUPA for $5.00 and a SASE (with $.45 postage). Send requests to: College and University Personnel Association, 1233 Twentieth St., N.W., Suite 503, Washington, DC 20036; (202) 429-0311. Prepayment must accompany requests for the tables. Tables for the five positions are available only as a set.

Two changes in the 1987-1988 CUPA report will be of interest to those seeking to compare data from year to year. The earlier report showed only Director salaries by enrollment and budget size ranges. In the 1987-1988 report such data are available for all six positions. The earlier report used ranges that broke at logical points (i.e. 5,000 to 9,999; 10,000 to 19,999). In the 1987-1988 report both enrollment and budget size ranges show reporting institutions by quartile. Therefore, it will not always be possible to compare salaries in a range from year to year. Librarians will find it interesting to examine the report itself in order to compare their salaries with other administrators in the same type of institution.

TABLE 1. Salaries paid to Director, Library Services: Overview

	Med	Ql	Q3	N
All Institutions	$38,175	$29,660	$49,440	1,236
Medical Schools & Centers	$54,700	$44,940	$59,500	26
2-Year Technical Institutes	$30,792	$26,000	$35,311	18
Theological Seminaries	$31,705	$26,575	$34,714	29
Private Independent Institutions	$35,107	$27,930	$46,500	337
Private Religious Institutions	$30,200	$24,819	$36,935	292

TABLE 2. Salaries paid to Director, Library Services: Universities

	Med	Ql	Q3	N
All Universities	$52,044	$41,936	$63,936	385
Public Universities by Enrollment
5,000 or less	$40,980	$36,625	$46,545	60
5,001 to 10,000	$52,000	$47,000	$57,114	78
10,001 to 18,000	$60,900	$55,825	$66,925	61
18,001 or more	$70,315	$64,872	$79,700	50
Private Universities by Enrollment
2,000 or less	$30,200	$28,635	$46,200	31
2,001 to 4,000	$39,500	$34,071	$46,500	44
4,001 to 7,000	$48,148	$43,800	$58,359	31
7,001 or more	$70,000	$58,200	$88,000	30
Public Universities by Budget Range
$29 million or less	$40,980	$36,625	$45,744	60
$29.1-$61 million	$49,548	$44,949	$53,500	66
$61.1-$169 million	$61,944	$57,636	$66,000	67
$169.1 million or more	$71,300	$65,664	$79,700	56
Private Universities by Budget Range
$21 million or less	$30,200	$28,500	$35,069	35
$21.1-$34 million	$39,675	$36,000	$45,795	34
$34.1-$83 million	$53,200	$43,800	$58,359	36
$83.1 million or more	$74,160	$63,100	$90,000	31

The 1987-1988 questionnaire was sent to approximately 3,200 higher education institutions on a list provided by the National Center for Education Statistics (now the Center for Education Statistics). A total of 1,564 usable responses were received—48% of the institutions surveyed. Salary data shown on tables in the CUPA report and in the tables which follow indicate the median, first quartile, and third quartile for each position.

The introduction to the CUPA report contains a useful description of those statistical concepts which is quoted below:

•The median is the middle value in an array of all salaries for the position; half of the salaries are lower than the median and half are higher. The median is considered a more reliable measure than the mean/average because it minimizes the effect of extremely high and low salaries.

•The first quartile (Q1 on Tables) divides salaries below the median into two 25 percent segments.

•The third quartile (Q3 on the Tables) divides salaries above the median into two 25 percent segments.

•Q1 and Q3, therefore, mark the interquartile range; half of all salaries—the middle 50 percent— fall within this range.

TABLE 3. Salaries paid to Director, Library Services: 4-Year Colleges

	Med	Ql	Q3	N
All 4-Year Colleges	$32,370	$26,563	$41,446	484
Public 4-Year Colleges by Enrollment
2,000 or less	$34,000	$30,847	$37,600	28
2,001 to 3,000	$38,000	$35,200	$49,400	26
3,001 to 4,000	$42,070	$37,862	$46,068	16
4,001 or more	$50,820	$46,725	$57,421	25
Private 4-Year Colleges by Enrollment
600 or less	$23,590	$20,700	$27,000	85
601 to 1,000	$28,154	$24,838	$32,038	103
1,001 to 1,600	$33,423	$29,000	$39,800	101
1,601 or more	$41,000	$33,537	$45,527	100
Public 4-Year Colleges by Budget Range
$9 million or less	$32,220	$29,447	$36,151	21
$9.1-$15 million	$37,850	$32,436	$39,000	25
$15.1-$24 million	$46,068	$43,200	$50,085	26
$24.1 million or more	$53,003	$46,250	$57,653	23
Private 4-Year Colleges by Budget Range
$6 million or less	$23,590	$20,600	$27,000	107
$6.1-$9 million	$28,906	$26,000	$32,251	80
$9.1-$18 million	$33,040	$29,400	$38,000	101
$15.1 million or more	$42,500	$36,450	$48,690	101

TABLE 4. Salaries paid to Director, Library Services: 2-Year Colleges

	Med	Ql	Q3	N
All 2-Year Colleges	$35,000	$28,850	$41,436	253
Public 2-Year Colleges by Enrollment
1,300 or less	$33,444	$27,886	$37,054	62
1,301-2,400	$35,000	$28,908	$40,031	66
2,401-4,700	$38,563	$33,750	$42,631	44
4,701 or more	$47,185	$38,065	$51,728	46
Private 2-Year Colleges by Enrollment
300 or less	$20,634	$18,600	$23,612	9
301 to 450	$21,772	$18,010	$25,750	8
451 to 800	$24,157	$21,000	$30,126	11
801 or more	$27,000	$25,000	$30,864	7
Public 2-Year Colleges by Budget Range
$5 million or less	$33,000	$27,018	$35,774	53
$5.1-$9 million	$35,000	$30,830	$39,700	66
$9.1-$18 million	$38,058	$33,516	$42,507	53
$18.1 million or more	$47,240	$41,436	$52,500	46
Private 2-Year Colleges by Budget Range
$2 million or less	$20,634	$16,860	$22,110	7
$2.1-$3 million	$22,000	$20,700	$26,400	7
$3.1-$5 million	$21,000	$18,600	$30,126	10
$5.1 million or more	$27,930	$24,157	$30,864	11

TABLE 5. Salaries paid to Circulation Librarian: Overview

	Med	Ql	Q3	N
All Institutions	$24,205	$19,230	$30,000	505
Medical Schools & Centers	$21,010	$18,599	$28,000	8
Theological Seminaries	$17,100	$15,600	$18,350	13
Private Independent Institutions	$23,363	$18,487	$29,000	124
Private Religious Institutions	$19,570	$16,500	$24,100	112

TABLE 6. Salaries paid to Acquisitions Librarian: Overview

	Med	Ql	Q3	N
All Institutions	$27,400	$22,078	$33,400	522
Medical Schools & Centers	$26,373	$24,926	$31,657	9
Theological Seminaries	$21,504	$19,425	$22,330	5
Private Independent Institutions	$25,840	$21,000	$31,120	135
Private Religious Institutions	$21,200	$17,552	$25,733	96

TABLE 7. Salaries paid to Technical Services Librarian: Overview

	Med	Ql	Q3	N
All Institutions	$27,774	$22,062	$35,000	667
Medical Schools & Centers	$27,510	$20,600	$34,493	16
Theological Seminaries	$23,620	$21,000	$25,680	12
Private Independent Institutions	$25,688	$21,037	$31,300	194
Private Religious Institutions	$22,184	$18,778	$26,873	136

TABLE 8. Salaries paid to Public Services Librarian: Overview

	Med	Ql	Q3	N
All Institutions	$30,000	$23,808	$38,019	415
Medical Schools & Centers	$30,116	$27,318	$37,404	11
Theological Seminaries	$25,500	$24,000	$28,179	5
Private Independent Institutions	$28,449	$22,300	$35,004	111
Private Religious Institutions	$22,470	$18,000	$26,039	68

TABLE 9. Salaries paid to Reference Librarian: Overview

	Med	Ql	Q3	N
All Institutions	$25,883	$21,328	$32,017	708
Medical Schools & Centers	$24,510	$21,896	$26,300	14
Theological Seminaries	$19,163	$16,000	$22,335	8
Private Independent Institutions	$24,266	$19,500	$29,910	192
Private Religious Institutions	$21,496	$18,200	$24,146	155

This means, for example, that if all library director salaries were arrayed from lowest to highest, the salary in the middle position, the median, would be $38,175—the first figure shown in the top row on Table 1. Another way of looking at the same array is to note that half of the salaries fall within a range bounded by $29,660—the first quartile (midway between the lowest salary and the median) and $49,440—the third quartile (midway between the median and the highest salary). The quartiles also show that 25 percent of academic library directors earn less than $29,660 and 25 percent earn more than $49,440.

It is also important to know that respondents were asked to observe the following specifications in reporting their data:

•Salaries are those in effect during the fall of 1987.

•Salaries are at an annualized, full-time rate; they reflect only actual cash earnings, excluding any services contributed without charge.

•Enrollment and budget figures are for the operating year 1987-1988.

•Enrollment is stated in terms of equivalent full-time students.

•Budgets include amounts for current education and general operations, including research funds. Budgets do not include amounts for student aid, auxiliary enterprises, service departments, construction, and similar activities.

Notes

1. Richard C. Creal, Jan P. Miller, and John M. Toller, 1987-1988 Administrative Compensation Survey (Washington, D.C.: College and University Personnel Association, 1988). Available from CUPA at 1233 Twentieth Street, N.W., Suite 503, Washington, DC 20036. Price to members, $55; price to non-members who participated in study, $145; price to others, $250. ISBN 0-910402-28-0.