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Summarised by Centrist
Librarian Mandy Henk agrees with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon that librarians and fisheries officers aren’t directly comparable – but says the real issue is how skilled, women-led professions are valued under New Zealand’s pay equity framework.
Writing in Newsroom, Henk outlines how many librarians’ roles require a Master of Library and Information Studies, yet remain underpaid and often overlooked in policy decisions.
“No profession has been more fundamentally transformed by the rise of digital technologies than librarianship,” Henk argues. “Being a librarian now means having technical skills ranging from programming and systems administration to IT help desk skills and an understanding of the political economy of technology.”
“Finding a male-dominated job that had a master’s degree as a minimum requirement was not possible… The skills to do the job of a fisheries officer are similar to a librarian’s skills set, however un-alike the job titles are,” she said.
Henk describes librarians as “standing at the nexus of information and people,” responsible for managing public resources and curating collections that reflect the needs and preferences of their communities. “How can we attract new staff when our work is being denigrated and our pay packets barely cover our student loan bills?” she asks.
Image: Mike Dickison
