Having recently advertised and filled a slot that was similar to this. Not quite as technically inclined, but certainly in the same ballpark. We pay significantly better…and we’re a state school in TN.

We required an MLS because we had no choice. Our librarians are hired as tenure-track faculty, and thus have to have the terminal degree for the profession. We could possibly have given up the line, but once gone it is never coming back…and that librarian is then going to be in a very vulnerable position depending on the administration. Giving up a tenure line is insane in academia.

That’s why.

Come to think of it, I have all the required qualifications, maybe I should apply … oh wait, I haven’t been paid that poorly since I started working in libraries over 10 years ago. Guess I’ll pass.

Requiring that the person have an MLS means they’re putting the position on a par (”professionally” speaking) with the other library departments. This can be handy in certain situations.

What I found weirdest about this posting is the requirement of “two years’ full time technical support experience”… add that to the 2+ years development and sysadmin requirements and that adds up to somebody with at least 5 years of extremely specific tech experience and an MLS. How many people in the entire US meet that description? Having recently gone through a long fruitless search to fill a systems librarian position (paying almost twice as much as this one and not requiring an MLS), I can assure you it is a very, very shallow pool indeed.

Also note that $39,000 is the starting salary for the “Term Librarian” position on the same page — which requires no experience at all.

I’ve found that library geek/systems librarians positions that require an MLS invariably pay significantly less than those that don’t. Pretty sad.

I have nearly fallen into the trap of indicating a ‘requirement’ when it is actually a desire. Perhaps that is the case here - though looking for an MLS who is also a decent developer and with skills as a sysadmin would indicate a MUCH higher salary.

Emory currently has a similar position (that requires no MLS) that starts at $48,000.