The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published the ARL Annual Salary Survey 2018–2019, which analyzes salary data for professional staff working in the 124 ARL member libraries during 2018–2019. Data are reported for 10,718 professional staff of the 116 university ARL libraries in Canada and the United States and for 3,318 professional staff of the 8 US federal and public ARL libraries. In the Salary Survey, data for university library staff are usually reported in three distinct groups: general library systems, health sciences libraries, and law libraries.
The 2018–2019 data show that salaries for professionals in Canadian and US ARL university libraries salaries did not keep pace with inflation; whereas, salaries for professionals in US federal and public ARL libraries surpassed inflation. The median salary for professionals in US ARL university libraries in 2018–2019 was $74,482, an increase of 1.5% over the 2017–2018 median salary of $73,357. The US CPI rose 2.9% during the same period. The Canadian CPI rose 3%, and median salaries in Canadian university libraries increased from $99,912 (Canadian dollars) to $100,699 (Canadian dollars), a rise of 0.8%. The median salary for US federal and public ARL libraries increased 5.7% from $90,067 in 2017–2018 to $95,166 in 2018–2019.
The ARL Annual Salary Survey 2018–2019 analyzes salary data from a number of different perspectives, including race, ethnicity, and sex. Individuals from historically underrepresented groups make up 16.2% of the professional staff in US ARL university libraries; the percentage of individuals in managerial or administrative positions who are also from historically underrepresented groups is lower. Women make up 68.7% of historically underrepresented staff members. Sex-based salary differentials persist in ARL libraries in 2018–2019. The overall salary for women in the 116 ARL university libraries is 94.8% of that paid to men.
Other characteristics of ARL university libraries, such as size, public/private status, and location are also significant determinants of salary. The current state of these indicators is outlined in the Salary Survey’s introduction and extensive tables.
Publication Details
ARL Annual Salary Survey 2018–2019
Shaneka Morris, comp. and ed.
2019 • 162 pages
Online Edition
The online version of the ARL Annual Salary Survey 2018–2019 includes access to a downloadable Microsoft Excel file of the data tables that are presented in the publication.
ISBN 978-1-948964-18-0 • ISSN 1930-367X
$170 (ARL member institutions have free IP access as a benefit of membership.)
Print Edition
Print copies of the ARL Annual Salary Survey 2018–2019 are available for purchase.
ISBN 978-1-948964-17-3 • ISSN 0361-5669
$170 ($85 ARL members)
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About the Association of Research Libraries
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) is a nonprofit organization of 124 research libraries in Canada and the US whose mission is to advance research, learning, and scholarly communication. The Association fosters the open exchange of ideas and expertise, promotes equity and diversity, and pursues advocacy and public policy efforts that reflect the values of the library, scholarly, and higher education communities. ARL forges partnerships and catalyzes the collective efforts of research libraries to enable knowledge creation and to achieve enduring and barrier-free access to information. ARL is on the web at ARL.org.
