Salaries will continue to be low as long as people continue to
accept those positions. Quality often is not as much of a
concern as budget. People start out willing to accept low pay
in exchange for experience and contacts - and then it doesn't
get any better! It's hard to find the middle level jobs that
will compensate for that experience - museums have a
never-ending supply of bright-eyed newcomers to underpay.

No one expects riches. But there's no reason why museum staff
should not be compensated as well as people in similar
professions with similar training - libraries, schools,
universities. The only solution is collective action - but
that's anathema to "professionals", and so many of our jobs are
a combination of "labor" and "management" so traditional union
models don't apply. Somebody come up with a new paradigm
quickly, before we all perish from penny-pinching!

Carol Ely
Virginia Discovery Museum
Charlottesville

*My opinions only, of course, and recognizing that museums have
terrible financial problems that make it hard to do right by
their staff however much they may wish in some cases.*