Salary Equity and Library Workers Free Webinar January 11

The ALA Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship (COSWL) and the ALA-APA Standing Committee on the Salaries and Status of Library Workers (SSLW) will host a complimentary webinar entitled Salary Equity and Library Workers: Experiences from the Field on How to Make it Happen on January 11, 2024, 1:00 - 2:30 pm (Central); 8:00 - 9:30 pm (Sweden); and 8:00 - 9:30 am (New Zealand - next day). Register now.

Historically, women have been discriminated against in a variety of ways, a primary one being compensation. The ALA COSWL together with ALA-APA SSLW will highlight issues in this national situation through discussions of job evaluation studies and available resources. They will also share examples of successful salary negotiations and agreements between libraries and unions in the USA and internationally. The goal is to bring awareness about how library workers, libraries and library unions can successfully effect change to benefit the library workforce.

Join in this discussion on a topic that is critical to library workers world-wide. Register now.

Speakers Include:

Moderator: Loida Garcia-Febo, Chair ALA COSWL, ALA Past President

Elizabeth Langley, Managing Librarian, Sahuarita Library, Pima County Public Library (Arizona)

Nicollette Davis, Kinesiology, Social Work, and Health Sciences Librarian, Louisiana State University Library, Research and Instruction Services Department

Hong Yao, Director of Technical Services, Queens Public Library (New York)

Anna Troberg, President of DIK, the Swedish Union for Librarians

Sasha Eastwood (Immediate Past President) and Clare Forrest (Executive Board), School Library Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (SLANZA); from the team that successfully secured Pay Equity for Aotearoa New Zealand school librarians and library assistants

The American Library Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in Librarianship (ALA COSWL) officially represents the diversity of women's interest within ALA and works to ensure that the association considers the rights of the majority (women) in the library field. The committee’s mission is to promote and initiate the collection, analysis, dissemination, and coordination of information on the status of women in librarianship; to coordinate the activities of ALA units that consider questions having special relevance for women; to identify lags, gaps, and possible discrimination in resources and programs relating to women; and to help develop evaluative tools, guidelines, and programs in cooperation with other ALA units designed to enhance the opportunities and the image of women in the library profession, thus raising the level of consciousness concerning women.

The American Library Association – Allied Professional Association’s (ALA-APA) Committee on the Salaries and Status of Library Workers’ (SSLW) mission is to provide training and information, recommend standards, suggest strategies, and undertake research to Improve the salaries and status of all library employees, and encourage career development for all library employees; to serve as a resource on the pay equity issue for the American Library Association; maintain a liaison from the Standing Committee to the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE); maintain an active network and database of resources in support of these issues, and support equal employment for all library employees; to promote and advocate for pay equity and equity in the workplace as it affects all library employees by developing the “Advocating for Better Salaries and Pay Equity Toolkit” (Better Salaries and Pay Equity Toolkit); facilitate training sessions and other programs at ALA conferences, and encourage salary-related activities by ALA chapters and participation by members in public awareness activities during National Library Workers Day (Tuesday of National Library Week) and Equal Pay Day.