In the public’s view, working in a museum seems prestigious, even lucrative. Curators have a reputation for being experts in their fields, quoted on the History Channel and on the Antiques Road Show, raking in the big bucks they deserve for their expertise. Right?

Reality check.

Most museum professionals barely make a living doing what we do. And for those of us doing OK, we’re certainly never going to be rich. The most popular recurring discussion on most of the museum listservs I subscribe to revolves around how we can all be paid what we’re worth.

That’s why Lawrence Small’s behavior upsets me so much. He has furthered the public perception that museum professionals make a ton of money, and worse yet, he has suggested that we don’t know how to be responsible with the money of others (which funds most of our budgets).

From 2000 to 2006, Small’s salary increased from $333,000 to $884,733. As museums across the country are doing more with less, losing funding from private donations and government sources, the head of the Smithsonian’s salary more than doubled. I can’t say that about my paycheck.

When I left graduate school with my freshly minted Master’s degree in hand, my student loans exceeded the sum of my annual salary at my first job. I had to refinance for 20 YEARS. I am going to be 32 soon, and I have 14 years left to pay on my loan.

I remember being told during our grad school orientation that if any of us expected to make a lot of money doing this, we should choose another career. I knew going into it that I wasn’t going to get rich. But it can be frustrating to have so much education behind you and know that people in other fields are doubling or tripling your salary, and they are just getting started.

The only reason to do museum work is because you love it. The pay is bad, the hours are even worse, and we all get darn tired from doing so much with so little.

But at the end of the day, if I have sparked a memory in a senior citizen, showed a child something fascinating that they didn’t know before, or brought an idea to life in one of my outreach programs, then I have done what I set out to do.

Museums enrich us all. I hope the actions of one selfish and irresponsible man will not tarnish the important work we do.