The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has published the ARL Annual Salary Survey 2021, which analyzes salary data for professional staff working in the 125 ARL member libraries during 2021. Data are reported for 10,751 professional staff from the 117 university ARL libraries in Canada and the United States and for 3,504 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 median salary for professionals in US ARL university libraries in 2021 was $77,353, an increase of 1.2% over the 2020 median salary of $76,400. The US CPI rose 5.4% during the same period. The Canadian CPI rose 3.7%, and median salaries in Canadian university libraries increased 1.7% from $103,662 (Canadian dollars) to $105,431 (Canadian dollars). The median salary for US federal and public ARL libraries increased 0.1% from $90,119 in 2020 to $90,197 in 2021.
The ARL Annual Salary Survey 2021 analyzes salary data from a number of different perspectives, including race, ethnicity, and sex. Individuals from historically underrepresented groups make up 19% 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% of historically underrepresented staff members. Sex-based salary differentials persist in ARL libraries in 2021. The overall salary for women in the 117 ARL university libraries is 96% 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.
Publication Details
ARL Annual Salary Survey 2021
Anam Mian
2023 • 168 pages
Online Edition
The online version of the ARL Annual Salary Survey 2021 includes access to a downloadable Microsoft Excel file of the data tables that are presented in the publication.
ISBN 978-1-948964-37-1
$170 (ARL member institutions have free IP access as a benefit of membership.)
Print Edition
Print copies of the ARL Annual Salary Survey 2021 are available for purchase.
ISBN 978-1-948964-36-4
$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 research libraries in Canada and the US whose vision is to create a trusted, equitable, and inclusive research and learning ecosystem and prepare library leaders to advance this work in strategic partnership with member libraries and other organizations worldwide. ARL’s mission is to empower and advocate for research libraries and archives to shape, influence, and implement institutional, national, and international policy. ARL develops the next generation of leaders and enables strategic cooperation among partner institutions to benefit scholarship and society. ARL is on the web at ARL.org.
