Walters is one of nation’s highest-paid library chiefs

Monday, March 3, 2003 | 9:55 a.m.

The Las Vegas-Clark County Library District board of trustees granted a 5 percent pay raise to the district's executive director, bringing his salary to nearly $160,000, one of the highest in the nation.

The decision was based on what Elaine Sanchez, vice chairwoman of the board, called "great strides" that have been made in the district's 24 libraries since Daniel Walters came on board as executive director a little more than four years ago.

The improvements include a 60 percent increase in books, compact discs and videos borrowed, as well as a 430 percent increase in time spent on library computers between 1999 and 2002, she said.

A review by the American Library Association last year showed Walters was among the highest paid library directors. It also showed that the district lags behind its peers when it comes to the number of libraries, books, compact discs and videos, as well as librarians and other staff members.

Of 22 library districts and public libraries serving populations of more than 1 million that responded to a nationwide survey in January 2002, the Las Vegas-Clark County District ranked fourth in the salary paid to its top executive, according to Mary Jo Lynch, director of ALA's office for research and statistics.

At the time, Walters, who was hired in November 1998, earned $135,595. His present salary is $151,0070, which together with a 3 percent cost-of-living increase paid all district employees, will come to about $159,500.

When the district negotiated the hiring of Walters in August 1998, the pay range for the executive director position was $95,000 to $129,000. The board sets pay and annual raises.

The director of Washington's King County library district earned $137,037 at the time of the ALA survey, third in the nation.

The area covered by the Seattle-based district equaled the Las Vegas-Clark County area in population, at 1.1 million, but had 43 libraries, compared to the local district's 24. It also had 8.1 million books, compact discs and videos, compared to the local district's 2.2 million, and it had 665 staff members, compared to the local district's 428.

The nation's highest-paid director, in Brooklyn, N.Y., with a population of 2.5 million, earned $200,000, overseeing 59 libraries, 7.2 million books and other materials and a staff of 1,020.

When asked about districts and libraries elsewhere, Walters said he and his staff took over after a period of time that showed little increase in public use of the library, and that services have greatly increased in the past four years.

"I bet if you looked at urban areas of more than 1 million, you couldn't find another library district or public library in the nation with libraries open seven days, from 9 to 9 that leverages 20 percent of its operating budget in purchase of new materials," he said.

Lynch said that a key factor in looking at any library district is the local tax base, an average of 80 percent of any district's funding.

Trustees with the Las Vegas-Clark County district said that any additional libraries, books and librarians in the coming years will depend greatly on a $50 million bond initiative to be discussed at a March 7 meeting of the Debt Management Committee, which includes city and county officials -- and not on Walters.

"The growth in our city is challenging," Sanchez said. "And while we agree that there's not enough libraries ... (Walters) can't do it all by himself. That's incumbent on voters."

Tim Wong, a library trustee since 1998, pointed out that no new libraries have been built in the area covered by the district for six years, and even if the bond initiative passes, new libraries won't be built until 2005.

"Is our community willing to accept that type of situation? I don't think so," Wong said.

The bond, which would cost taxpayers about $8.82 per $100,000 of assessed value, comes on the heels of a similar measure failing in the same district in 2001, and two bond failures in the Henderson district in recent years.

The money raised would not pay any existing employee salaries.

As for the Las Vegas Valley's two other library districts, Henderson's director earns $92,000 to oversee four libraries and North Las Vegas' director earns $94,000 to oversee two.

"With our growth, it's tough to keep up with libraries and books per capita," said Joan Kerschner, director of the Henderson district.

"On the other hand, we have to attract top personnel since we don't want to lose people to other districts."

Wong, of the Las Vegas-Clark County board, said Walters is the right man to lead the district through a five-year growth plan being pursued, including four libraries in underserved areas that the bond would finance.

"The pay (he earns) is commensurate with the vision of the library district that we'll have in the future," he said.

Walters said he and the district plan to increase services as the valley's population grows.

"We don't want to just sit on our fannies," he said. "We have to increase our performance each year to meet the level of public investment in our libraries."