This article examines some of the factors affecting the current economic status of academic librarians, as well as the history of changes in that economic picture. Issues discussed include the ranking of beginning academic librarian salaries in comparison to others in the profession, historical differences between academic librarian salaries and those of other tenured faculty, and regional variations in library and faculty salaries. Data from salary surveys by the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), the American Association of University Professors/National Center for Education Statistics (AAUP/NCES), the American Library Association-Allied Professional Association (ALA-APA), and the "Library Journal" over a 25-year span are analyzed in concert to develop new information not readily apparent from each data set in isolation. (Contains 37 notes and 7 figures.)