The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published the ARL Annual Salary Survey 2019–2020, which analyzes salary data for professional staff working in 123 of the 124 ARL member libraries during 2019–2020. Data are reported for 10,691 professional staff from 115 of the 116 university ARL libraries in Canada and the United States* and for 3,154 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 2019–2020 data show that median salaries for professionals in Canadian and US ARL university libraries salaries outpaced inflation; whereas, median salaries for professionals in US federal and public ARL libraries decreased. The median salary for professionals in US ARL university libraries in 2019–2020 was $76,076, an increase of 2.1% over the 2018–2019 median salary of $74,482. The US CPI rose 1.8% during the same period. The Canadian CPI rose 2%, and median salaries in Canadian university libraries increased from $100,699 (Canadian dollars) to $104,123 (Canadian dollars), a rise of 3.4%. The median salary for US federal and public ARL libraries decreased 0.1% from $95,166 in 2018–2019 to $95,101 in 2019–2020.
The ARL Annual Salary Survey 2019–2020 analyzes salary data from a number of different perspectives, including race, ethnicity, and sex. Individuals from historically underrepresented groups make up 16.7% 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 69% of historically underrepresented staff members. Sex-based salary differentials persist in ARL libraries in 2019–2020. The overall salary for women in 115 of the 116 ARL university libraries is 95.08% of that paid to men.
Other characteristics of ARL university libraries illustrate differences in salary. Some of these indicators are outlined in the Salary Survey’s introduction and extensive tables.
* One institution chose not to provide Salary Survey data this year.
Publication Details
ARL Annual Salary Survey 2019–2020
Anam Mian
2020 • 108 pages
Online Edition
The online version of the ARL Annual Salary Survey 2019–2020 includes access to a downloadable Microsoft Excel file of the data tables that are presented in the publication.
ISBN 978-1-948964-26-5
$170 (ARL member institutions have free IP access as a benefit of membership.)
Print Edition
Print copies of the ARL Annual Salary Survey 2019–2020 are available for purchase.
ISBN 978-1-948964-25-8
$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; advances diversity, equity, and inclusion; 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.
