Letters

I read the article "Trading Places" (April 2004, pp. 48–51) comparing school librarians and public librarians. I'm afraid Ms. Bromann's information was not entirely correct. In her comparison chart "Both Sides of the Fence," she states that most school librarians "work on a teacher's schedule, and there may be some additional hours. Usually no summer, evening, or weekend hours are required." This is absolutely false! Library media specialists, including myself, work many nights creating lesson plans, reading reviews, and developing reports and public relations materials for our programs. We also work on weekends. And I come in to school during the summer to check on purchase orders and any program changes that occur during that time, and I attend school board meetings when needed.

At the elementary level, library media specialists have tight schedules for teaching, planning with teachers, and working with technology. Our jobs in schools have doubled over the many years that I have been working in education. I serve on a public library board, so I do realize that public librarians are busy, too, but I am sorry Ms. Bromann misled readers on the amount of work that is required for school libraries.

Vonna J. Pitel
Imc/district media coordinator, Cedarburg School District
Cedarburg, WI

I read with interest your article "More Pay for Public Librarians" (April 2004, p. 13) and Jennifer Bromann's article "Trading Places ." May I add that a public librarian's paycheck is also determined by the particular library's board of trustees and the town's mayor.

I am currently the reference librarian at a New Jersey public library in an affluent community. When I was hired in January 2002, I was told that the library was a union shop and that the current contract expired at the end of that year. A new contract would be negotiated and the director was making every effort to increase staff salaries. I agreed to serve on the negotiating committee. It is now May 2004, and the library staff still does not have a new contract.

The reason in this case is political. In November 2002, the town elected a new mayor, who decided that he would handle negotiations for all unions. To save the town money, the mayor has sought to cut employee health insurance. This is a bitter pill to swallow since he did not ask the police to reduce their health insurance, only the "blue-collar" workers. The town council has now removed the mayor from negotiations and hired a labor lawyer at an approximate cost of $300 per hour. The library union is now negotiating with a state mediator.

So why do I stay? Because I work for a director who understands that life sometimes gets in the way of work. I stay because I enjoy the staff I work with and I enjoy the challenges I face every day as a public librarian. Public libraries are a labor of love. Our paychecks in many cases do not reflect the skills and knowledge that we bring to the career that we dedicate ourselves to.

Gillian Buonanno
Reference librarian, Ramsey Public Library
Ramsey, NJ

e-mail slj@reedbusiness.com.