Laura Girmscheid and Meredith Schwartz

For many, salary discussion is the last taboo. But without knowing how their peers are compensated, it can be hard for librarians to make their case for better pay—and hard for library leaders to make the case to funders that higher salaries are necessary to attract and retain the best candidates. LJ has, for years, conducted its annual Placements & Salaries survey, which focuses on recent graduates, to dig into what beginning librarians earn in their first positions and what trends those salaries reveal. Now, with the help of more than 3,200 public, academic, school, special, government, and consortium librarians from all 50 states, LJ’s inaugural salary survey for U.S. ­librarians and paralibrarians takes a deeper look at the range of the field’s salary potential.