Leslie Monsalve-Jones is a library technician with the New Mexico State Library, responsible for claiming documents that state agencies don't submit. She also maintains the collection and can immediately track down any requested document. In short, she is the kind of worker whose price is above rubies but whose pay is slightly above pebbles. And…

In this article, the author describes how the New Orleans Public Library (NOPL) struggled with a fraction of its former staff, limited hours, and a massive fundraising challenge after Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005. While previously 171 people staffed locations, only 40 employees plus a smaller--and shifting--cadre of…