The Entry Level Gap

Lee Hadden says:

Not for Newbies
Actually, I don’t like the concept of entry level jobs. Either you have a job opening in your library, for which you are ethically required to hire the best candidate, or you don’t. The concept of a less-paying entry level job is a way for libraries to hire people for less income.
        I realize that sometimes ten years of experience is actually one year of experience repeated ten times, and that some entry level people have better people skills or computer skills than seasoned librarians, and I have always taken that into consideration. But usually, libraries want people who can hit the floor running, and saying that seasoned librarians are over-qualified and therefore damned to ever get another job, is silly. The best qualified and best candidate should get the job. The salary negotiations are a separate issue.
      Also, often this “entry level job” is based on who is the “junior” librarian and will have to take the worst shifts, etc. This also is silly, and to keep dumping the worst shifts and worst jobs on the youngest/newest hire only leads to staff inequity in other areas. But no one should be told they will work the worst shirfts for a few years, and then the library will hire a younger librarian to take them over. Not only is this age discrimination, it is also unethical treatment of the staff.
      Certainly a job that requires no previous experience should be open to entry level people who are willing to apply. But better candidates who also need a job shouldn’t be eliminated simply because they are older, more experienced (or even worse, more experienced than the existing library staff, oh! my!) or a subject specialist.
        Unemployed librarians with years of experience need jobs too, and are often in a bind whan a spouse is transferred, they move to another location to be near a sick parent, etc., and need a new job. Let me tell you, an entry level salary in a library for an experienced librarian looks pretty damn good as an alternative to working as a temp secretary or flipping burgers.