Let me get this straight: First Christopher Whittle says librarians are
overpaid (note the spelling) because they're overqualified, then says
everyone is underpaid except corporate CEOs.  I don't need to belabor the
error of his ill-informed assumptions about both librarians and barbers,
since others have adroitly scolded him, but I would like to point out that
this echoes a common misconception among both museum folks and archivists.
 Librarians are a much-maligned group, largely through ignorance.  I find it
interesting that, as we have progressed in our attitudes toward race, sex (or
gender, if you prefer), and ethnicity, we seem to have transferred some of
our biases toward occupational groups.  We all seem to think that our
occupational group deserves better pay than some other group.

Pardon that aside.  It's not directly relevant to my point, but I'll let it
stand because I think it's worth saying.  But I do think that museum people
ought to be more attuned to the similarities in the work of curators,
archivists, librarians, and teachers.  Ignorance by members of one group
about the nature of the work of the other groups fosters petty resentments,
and it undermines the spirit of cooperation and collegiality which ought to
prevail.  I believe that each group has much to learn from the practices and
traditions of the other groups.  In my own work with photographs, I borrow
freely from the traditions of museums, archives, and libraries, depending
upon the varying kinds of access and usage which my collections require.
 Obviously, since photographs are collected by all three types of
institutions, this works better than it might with other kinds of
collections.  Nevertheless, I often find that ignorance of library and
archival procedures works to the detriment of other museum collections.  I
think many museum people would be wise to inform themselves about what
librarians really do.

Some years ago I hired a person for an archival project involving a large
photographic collection.  Her previous employment had been as a visual
materials "librarian" at a historical society, and I had a hard time
convincing our personnel (or human resources, if you prefer) rep that she was
qualified for the job because, like Mr. Whittle, he protested that librarians
just "shelve books."  Regardless of her title, she was in fact highly
qualified, knowledgeable, and experienced with the kind of work we had for
her to do.  But there was a fundamental misunderstanding (and I call it
ignorance and prejudice) about what librarians do.  I agree that it is, in
many ways, comparable to what museum employees do.

--David Haberstich