Archival Pay
The Library Journal, Vol. 10, No. 5, p. 1.
May 1885
In the March number of the Centralblatt fur Bibliothekswesen is a long communication from a library assistant on the question of pay, which contains some interesting details in regard to the condition of such employees in Germany. Their social status he does not complain of; it is that of teachers. Their time of service is easy, only five hours a day, whereas teachers in the gymnasia have four hours' teaching and two hours' preparation per diem. On the other hand, the Gymnasiallehrer has twelve weeks' vacation and the Bibliotheksbeamte only four. It is the condition of keepers of the archives, however, that provokes the jealousy of the writer. They have higher salaries than library assistants, though the knowledge necessary to the proper performance of their duties is much more limited, and they can supplement their pay by working after hours (five hours a day leaves plenty of time for extra work) for private persons in making extracts from manuscripts, drawing up pedigrees, and the like, which the librarians cannot do, because there is no demand for their work. Moreover, the archivists may be transferred from one archive to a better paid one in another city; the whole Prussian state is their field; whereas the library employees are as a rule promoted only within the limits of their own library: if the superior librarians are young men the poor assistants have no chance.