Excellent points here, and the last para in particular.
However here are those who say the salaries are comparable to those in
the civil service? I know not.
f
-----Original Message-----
From: Chartered Library and Information Professionals
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paul Clarke
Sent: 15 February 2005 15:16
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Gazette Feb 11th
With all due respect I think we are arguing about a symptom not a cause.
Librarians are offered rubbish salaries because very few people
understand what they do or the contributions they make.
I understand that there are government contributions to attract various
key workers like teachers, healthcare staff etc. to apply for jobs not
so librarians, even though those of us in the public and academic realms
contribute significantly to the government agenda on these issues. (And
those in private industry probably to the profits!) That isn't an answer
to poor salaries but it would help.
Try offering head teachers or nurses that sort of salary and watch the
newspaper headlines about poor educational standards or patients in
corridors. But remember we are just a set of mousy individuals who stamp
books and say shush ; so why should we be worth as much as a nurse?
If CILIP wants to make a difference it should be aggressively marketing
the profession. That is not acting as a trade union; it is acting as an
advocate for the profession. If it does this the rest will follow; if it
doesn t - I should go and retrain as something else because the
profession won t exist in twenty years!
Paul Clarke
Group Library Manager
Greenwich
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