Library Board Seeks Pay Equity For Its Employees

By Dottie Evans

In preparing to go to the town with their 2004–05 budget request, the Cyrenius Booth Library Board of Trustees has been in contact with library consultant Patricia Owens, author of a report titled Compensation Package Report that was commissioned by the Trumbull Library Board of Trustees in December 2002.

Interestingly, Newtown was one of the 13 towns studied for this report, and the data brought to light confirms what board members had already suspected –– that the town’s pay scale for its professional, degree-holding library staff members as well as entry level clerks is below par.

“From October to May, it seems we are always thinking about the budget,” said Library Director Janet Woycik on December 23, as she and library Board of Trustees President Philip Kotch discussed their goal of raising salaries for all library employees.

Ms Woycik noted that the Booth Library salaries were among the lowest of the towns considered in the Trumbull report, which included the 13 towns of Cheshire, Fairfield, Farmington, Glastonbury, Guilford, Monroe, Newington, Newtown, Stratford, Trumbull, Watertown, Wilton, and Woodbury.

 Brookfield, Bethel, and Redding were not included because of their smaller town populations, and Greenwich was not included because that library has the benefit of multimillion-dollar endowments.

Mr Kotch noted that entry-level clerks without the MLS degree working at the circulation desks in Fairfield or Monroe earn $32,000 and $29,000, respectively; Newtown circulation desk clerks earn from $20,000 to $26,000.

“A lot of them have master’s in other areas, and they do valuable specialized work in program directing, reference, or organization,” Mr Kotch said.

Another factor in making out the library’s 2004–05 operational budget request is the number of hours the building must stay open, which is 56.

“That is 16 hours more than the average town office with the exception of the police department. These additional hours have to be covered by skilled staff,” Mr Kotch added.

Newtown: Lowest Level Of Town Budget Support

For the purpose of comparison, the five area towns studied in the December 2002 Trumbull Compensation Package Report that were the most similar to Newtown in size and average per capita income were Fairfield, Farmington, Monroe, Trumbull, and Watertown.

In the calculation for town wealth as adjusted by Grand List numbers against total population, Newtown ranked 43 out of 169 Connecticut towns; Farmington ranked 24; Fairfield ranked 22; Monroe ranked 51; Trumbull ranked 37; and Watertown ranked 112.

Additional data in the Trumbull report shows the following levels of support by each town for its public library.

Fairfield: population 57,340; per capita tax support for library, $55.40; percentage of town revenues, 2.0.

Farmington: population 23,641; per capita tax support, $64.30; percentage of town revenues, 2.5.

Monroe: population 19,247; per capita tax support, $24; percentage of town revenues, 0.8.

Newtown: population 25,031; per capita tax support, $27.27; percentage of town revenues, 0.6.

Trumbull: population 34,000; per capita tax support, $31.43; percentage of town revenues, 1.2.

Watertown: population 21,661; per capita tax support, $28.85; percentage of town revenues, 1.2.

In summary, of all the 13 towns included in the Trumbull study, Newtown ranked last in percentage of town revenues spent for the library.

Among other concerns of the Booth Library Board of Trustees are the eventual retirement of longstanding employees and the need to replace those individuals.

 “We’ve got to be competitive with our neighbors if we want to hire the best people. The issue of shortages [of MLS degree candidates] in these positions is very real. It took us a year and a half, for instance, to find and hire our new Young Adult Librarian Margaret Brown,” said Ms Woycik.

 “I firmly believe we need to raise our salaries for these positions. It’s a goal of mine –– not so much for myself as for those who are coming after me.”

Book Sale Money:               Not For Salaries

Money earned by Labor Day Book Sale, a yearly fundraiser managed entirely by the Friends of the Library group, is not and has never been available to support library salaries or operations. These functions must be supported by the town budget through tax revenues.

Book Sale earnings may be used to buy equipment and furnishings, support programs, and purchase books or audiovisual materials.

 “One benefit for us has been that for the past six years, we haven’t had to ask for an increase in our book purchase budget, thanks to donations from the Friends. So, in a way, you could say the book sale does impact the budget in reducing the total level of our request,” Mr Kotch said.

But the book sale must not be considered an indefinite “cash cow,” he noted.

“At some point, we may not have the facility we have enjoyed at Bridgeport Hall for putting on the sale. There is no telling what will happen after the town purchases Fairfield Hills. If a large building such as Bridgeport Hall were not available to book sale volunteers over of months for storage and organization of the 160,000-plus volumes offered at the sale, it is difficult to imagine how the Friends would manage to put it on.”

And whether or not the book sale donations continue, the fact remains that the library salaries and operations must be wholly funded by the town through its annual budget.

Mr Kotch addressed the issue of salary equity head on.

“All the parameters have been positive. We have increasing numbers of patrons, books, and programs, along with the addition of a website for online access to the catalog.

 “We have six full-time staff members who have the MLS degree [Master of Library Science]. Our director [Janet Woycik] has been with us 22 years and our assistant director [Beryl Harrison] has been here for 13 years. We feel their salaries should reflect their degrees and level of service,” he added.

Newtown’s library director earns $69,000 a year and the assistant director earns $52,000. Salaries in other towns were the following: Fairfield, $89,254 and $65,900; Farmington, $81,915 and $60,286; Monroe, $55,565 (no assistant); Trumbull, $61,812 and $56,092; Watertown, $66,480 and $59.040.

Raises for all staff needed to bring about parity with other area libraries might have to be achieved over a short period of time –– perhaps over three years, Mr Kotch noted.

“But we are determined to get this done, and we must start now.”