Occupation salary profile

Librarians and Media Collections Specialists

SOC 25-4022 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Administer and maintain libraries or collections of information, for public or private access through reference or borrowing. Work in a variety of settings, such as educational institutions, museums, and corporations, and with various types of informational materials, such as books, periodicals, recordings, films, and databases. Tasks may include acquiring, cataloging, and circulating library materials, and user services such as locating and organizing information, providing instruction on how to access information, and setting up and operating a library’s media equipment.

National median · BLS
$68,270
▲ +6.14% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$66,587
▲ +2.44% YoY · 57 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$72,840
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
133,790
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Librarians and Media Collections Specialists

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 57 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$43,660$53,243
25th$56,310$59,000
Median (50th)$68,270$66,587
75th$84,480$80,031
90th — top pay$103,990$96,884
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $66,587 for Librarians and Media Collections Specialists — 2.5% below the BLS national median of $68,270.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

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Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Librarians and Media Collections Specialists

BLS projects employment of librarians and media collections specialists to grow 2.6% from 2025 to 2035, slower than the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 12,600 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
142,300 → 145,900
+3,600 jobs
Projected change
+2.6%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
12,600
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Master's degree
No related experience required
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 5)
Extensive Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a master's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $66,587
Change vs prior year +2.44%
After inflation (CPI-U) -0.67%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 26 45.6% $53,784 $64,500 $69,049
Level II 16 28.1% $62,130 $70,812 $80,556
Skills & tools

Skills needed for Librarians and Media Collections Specialists

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Reading Comprehension4.1
  • Active Listening4.0
  • Speaking4.0
  • Critical Thinking3.6
  • Writing3.6
  • Service Orientation3.4
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.3
  • Monitoring3.3
  • Social Perceptiveness3.3
  • Active Learning3.1
Top knowledge areas
  • English Language4.4
  • Customer and Personal Service4.4
  • Education and Training4.1
  • Computers and Electronics3.7
  • Administration and Management3.6
  • Administrative3.5
  • Communications and Media3.1
  • Personnel and Human Resources2.9
Software and technology used
Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareSpringshare LibGuidesAdobe AcrobatAdobe After EffectsAdobe Creative Cloud softwareAdobe IllustratorAdobe InDesignAdobe PhotoshopAutodesk AutoCADCascading style sheets CSSExtensible markup language XMLFacebookGoogle Workspace softwareHypertext markup language HTMLJavaScriptMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft Outlook

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What librarians and media collections specialists do

  • Search standard reference materials, including online sources and the Internet, to answer patrons' reference questions.
  • Analyze patrons' requests to determine needed information and assist in furnishing or locating that information.
  • Supervise daily library operations, budgeting, planning, and personnel activities, such as hiring, training, scheduling, and performance evaluations.
  • Plan and teach classes on topics such as information literacy, library instruction, and technology use.
  • Code, classify, and catalog books, publications, films, audio-visual aids, and other library materials, based on subject matter or standard library classification systems.
  • Confer with colleagues, faculty, and community members and organizations to conduct informational programs, make collection decisions, and determine library services to offer.
  • Review and evaluate materials, using book reviews, catalogs, faculty recommendations, and current holdings to select and order print, audio-visual, and electronic resources.
  • Evaluate vendor products and performance, negotiate contracts, and place orders.
Also called
LibrarianLibrary Media SpecialistReference LibrarianUniversity LibrarianCatalog LibrarianCatalogerReference and Instruction LibrarianResearch LibrarianSchool LibrarianTechnical Services Librarian
More job titles for this occupation (43)
Access Services LibrarianAcquisitions LibrarianAV Collections Coordinator (Audio Visual Collections Coordinator)Bookmobile LibrarianCatalogue LibrarianCataloguerChemical LibrarianChildren's LibrarianClassifierCollection Development LibrarianDigital LibrarianElectronic Resources LibrarianElementary LibrarianElementary School LibrarianFilm LibrarianGovernment Documents LibrarianHospital LibrarianInstitution LibrarianInstruction LibrarianInterlibrary Loan Services LibrarianInternational Broadcast Music LibrarianLaw LibrarianLibrary Services SpecialistLibrary SpecialistMedia Center SpecialistMedia LibrarianMedical LibrarianMedical Record LibrarianMetadata LibrarianMultimedia SpecialistMusic LibrarianNews LibrarianOutreach LibrarianPeriodicals LibrarianPrison LibrarianPublic Services LibrarianRecord LibrarianSchool Library Media SpecialistSerials LibrarianSpecial Collections LibrarianSpecial Library LibrarianSystems LibrarianYouth Services Librarian

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.