Executive compensation in libraries: an oxymoron?

Abstract

Pay, benefits, perquisites, the work environment and the intrinsic rewards that it offers, all need to be used to attract the executive a library needs and wants. To that end, this article provides an overview of current practices in library executive compensation, with an explanation of various approaches and the provision of ideas for compensation components. This is especially pertinent, as nearly 60 percent of professional librarians will retire, including a large number of library executives, during the next ten to 15 years. Other fields and professions face similarly large numbers of retirements. The competition for top‐quality library executives will be fierce. Both library executives and libraries hiring new executives need to be aware of the variety of compensation approaches available to them.