College and Research Libraries


By C H A L M E R S G . D A V I D S O N 

Catalogers1 Salaries in Well'Endowed 
Colleges 

TH E R E is considerable difficulty in re-cruiting and retaining cataloging per-
sonnel. In order to examine the question of 
salaries in regard to this problem in college 
libraries, the writer undertook to survey the 
situation in forty institutions which are as-
sumed to be endowed adequately.1 T h e 
World Almanac and Book of Facts for 

1946 includes a list of "Colleges with 
$2,000,000 Endowment or M o r e . " Only 
the colleges on this list were circularized, 
in January-February 1946, on the problems 
of ( 1 ) salaries, ( 2 ) provision for increases, 
( 3 ) amount of cataloging performed, and 
( 4 ) faculty status of catalogers. A few 
technical institutions obviously not com-
parable with liberal arts colleges were omit-
ted, while two, designated as universities 
but whose libraries are primarily for under-
graduates, were included. T h i s report is 
not concerned with what is done in poorly 
endowed, struggling colleges (although 
some of them doubtless support their li-
braries better than wealthier institutions), 
but rather with what is being accomplished 
by those financially equipped to perform 
on a high level. Since only a brief ques-
tionnaire was sent, replies were almost 100 
per cent, although all librarians were 
neither willing nor able to answer all ques-
tions. 

1 L i s t of colleges: A g n e s Scott, A m h e r s t , Bates, B e r e a , 
B e t h a n y , Bowdoin, B r y n M a w r , C a r l e t o n , Claremont, 
Colorado, Colby, Cornell, Dartmouth, F u r m a n , Goucher, 
Grinnell, Hamilton, K e n y o n , K n o x , Macalaster, Mac-
M u r r a y , M i d d l e b u r y , Mills, M o u n t H o l y o k e , North 
Dakota A g r i c u l t u r a l , Oberlin, St. V i n c e n t , Simmons, 
Smith, S w a r t h m o r e , T r i n i t y , T u f t s , U n i o n , V a s s a r , 
W a k e Forest, Washington & Lee, Washington State, 
W e l l e s l e y , W i t t e n b e r g , Wooster. 

T h e median salary of the chief, and often 
only, cataloger in the forty U . S. colleges 
is $2100 a year. T h e average salary is 
$2200. In those colleges which have 
schedules for increases, the median salary 
that may be expected by the chief cataloger 
is $2500; the average, $2600. 

T h e highest salary at present paid a cata-
loger in these colleges is approximately 
$3700; the lowest, $1600. T h e highest ex-
pected salary is $4,000; the lowest, $1800. 
Vacation periods are not uniform. 

Of the forty colleges on the list, four have 
no professional cataloger. For two, this is 
apparently a temporary situation. 

T h e median number of books and pamph-
lets (combined) cataloged per year is 3200. 
This figure has little value since the statis-
tics range widely from 600 to 30,000. 

T h e question of faculty status for cata-
logers, involving vacations, salary scales, 
club memberships, and sabbaticals was not 
raised further than to ask the rank of the 
faculty member whose salary was nearest to 
that of the cataloger. Thirteen colleges pay 
their catalogers on a par with instructors, 
twelve with assistant professors, and one 
with associate professors. Those replying 
for the fourteen remaining colleges did not 
supply data regarding salaries of faculty 
members. 

A more thorough study of this subject is 
suggested. In the meantime these figures 
may be of interest to college administrators 
who want to bring their library staffs in line 
with the practice in the better institutions. 

JULY, 1946 
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