Celebrate Equal Pay Day on April 3

Contact: Beatrice Calvin


312-280-4280

ALA News Release


For Immediate Release


March 12, 2001

Celebrate Equal Pay Day on April 3

The American Library Association's (ALA) Committee on Pay Equity urges libraries and library workers to observe Equal Pay Day on April 3, 2001.

Each year, the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) organizes the national observance of Equal Pay Day to raise awareness about unfair pay in America. In 2001, Equal Pay Day will be held on Tuesday, April 3. Tuesday represents the point in a new week that a woman must work in order to earn the wages paid to a man in the previous week. In other words, because women on average earn less - and particularly women who work in traditional "women's professions," such as librarianship - they must work longer for the same pay.

Over the past several years, Equal Pay Day has primarily been a national awareness day through which participants have succeeded in putting fair pay on the national agenda. This year, the NCPE is taking a more action-oriented approach. This year's theme, 'A Day of Action - From Awareness to Fairness,' will focus on the fact that current laws are not working to eliminate wage discrimination. Participants will use the theme to launch activities that focus on solutions.

Libraries and individuals can participate by sponsoring activities on April 3. NCPE coordinates this nationwide effort by supplying kits with handouts, sample press releases, buttons, planning tips, activity ideas and more.

The NCPE is a non-profit coalition of more than 180 organizations of which the ALA is a charter member and has representation on the board of directors.

For more information about Equal Pay Day, contact the ALA Office for Human Resource Development and Recruitment (HRDR) at 800/545-2433 ext. 4277, or the ALA representative to NCPE, Michele Leber (
mleber@co.fairfax.va.us).

You also may contact the NCPE directly, 1126 Sixteenth St., NW, #104, Washington, D.C. 20036; phone: 202/331-7343; fax: 202/331-7406; e-mail:
fairpay@aol.com; or visit their Web site at:
http://www.feminist.com/fairpay.htm.