Review article
Salaries and Material Rights of Librarians in Public Libraries
Marija Kretić Nađ
orcid.org/0000-0002-1228-9898
; Gradska knjižnica Beli Manastir
*
Danica Bukna
orcid.org/0009-0009-2114-9211
; Gradska knjižnica Beli Manastir
Renata Benić
orcid.org/0009-0001-7136-1204
; Gradska knjižnica Beli Manastir
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
Goal. This paper should be a stimulus for a comprehensive analytical study of salaries and material rights of librarians in public libraries. The aim of the article is to encourage professional public discussion about the value of librarians' work, as well as to point out the problems faced by librarians in smaller communities. The paper is potentially addressed to the general public, and the title uses the term librarian as a designation for employees who work on collecting, storing, preserving, processing and using information and library materials, regardless of the degree of professional advancement.
Access. The paper refers both to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, as well as to labor legislation, legal and the sub-legal act that regulate library operations, education and professional training of librarians. The direct reason for writing the paper was the announcement of the new Law on Salaries in State and Public Services, promoted under the slogan „Equal pay for equal work!".
The results. The article provides examples of salaries and other material rights of librarians of several public libraries that have publicly available documents. The examples are purely for illustration and their indication should be understood as an incentive for a serious study that will valorize the cost of work and the rights of public library librarians.
Limitations. The paper is an incentive for a comprehensive analysis of the salaries and material rights of librarians in public libraries, and as the article was written in August 2023 and it used public data, laws and regulations available at that time, deviations are possible if the observed libraries do not have published annexes to collective agreements or amendments to the regulations governing salaries and material rights of workers.
Practical use. The work should be seen as a fundamental contribution to the systematic reflection and evaluation of the value of the work of librarians in public libraries, as well as reflection on the equality of wages and material rights in accordance with the Ordinance on the conditions and methods of obtaining professional titles in the librarian profession.
Originality/value. There is no systematic analysis of the equality of salaries and material rights of librarians in public libraries, and public library librarians who are the founders of local and regional self-government units are paid differently for basically the same work and exercise different material rights in the Republic of Croatia.
Keywords
material rights, public libraries, salaries, rights of workers
Hrčak ID:
316710
URI
Publication date:
9.5.2024.
Visits: 609 *