Lynne
I am sorry to disappoint you but you can still be in a low paid job and be an experienced professional chartered librarian. Some local authorities are employing new "librarians" who only have customer service skills, but have never worked in a library, to replace experienced qualified staff as they leave. As they (Essex) can pay new staff around £12-14,000 to work on the enquiry desk at £5,000 less than before and will be paying professionals the same salary, it is loved by everyone in County Council, except the chartered librarians. That is why I moved out of public libraries and into health libraries where it seems on the whole, librarians are respected for their professional skills. My present work reflects my experience and skills built up over the years.
Also I beg the question that £20,000 salary in London has a different purchasing power to the equivalent in other places. To equate all salaries as one is derisory.
The other factor is now that I work in London, I can afford to use far more of CILIP services. I can attend meetings and training courses without having to travel a long distance and pay high travel costs, which eat into training budgets. I can even visit the CILIP library if required, something I found difficult from Manchester (Trafford), where I was working previously. This obviously applies to the majority of CILIP members who do not live or work in London. I know we are moving towards virtual libraries etc. but how many CILIP training courses are online? Those that are do not offer the same networking opportunities.
However I have enjoyed being a librarian over the years and wouldn't wish for any other job. So yes start on the first rung of the ladder, it will make you an even better manager when you become one, if that is your goal.
There is far more respect in the profession now than ever before with KM and IT an integral part of the service we provide in today's information society. CILIP should be there supporting us all and not penalising individuals financially with a one off cost for their services, whether you choose them or not. So why not a basic fee with "top ups" if required?
Mary
-----Original Message-----
From: Lynne Robinson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 29 October 2004 14:04
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [LIS-CILIP] Membership fees, benchmarking and bad pay
As a recently graduated (2 years) not so young entry into the library
services, in my area the north east there are plenty of jobs but if you are
entering the job market from graduation you can't walk into a librarian job
or even a full-time library assistant job, most of the students I graduated
with have had to do pool or library aide work to get the foot in the door.
If C.I.L.I.P don't want to lose members over the fees we need to keep the
different rates for those that have to take the low paid jobs to get
experience.
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