Meet the Libby Librarians — Maria Fesz

Here at Libby, we love all kinds of books—romantasy, thriller, superhero comics, you name it. And as book lovers, our own personal superheroes are, of course, librarians. We’re lucky to have a whole team of librarians on staff, guiding our decisions, recommending books on Libby Life, and supporting your local librarians in selecting titles for their communities. To give you a peek behind the scenes, we’re launching a new monthly series spotlighting one of our staff librarians who will share what they do, the books they love, and their best reading advice.

We’re kicking off the series by introducing Maria Fesz. As a self-proclaimed ebook gal, find out which series she will ONLY listen to on audiobook and the surprising job she held before becoming a Libby librarian. 

What's in your mug?

Coffee—straight up!

⬅️ Here’s me and my favorite cryptid mug from Alternate Histories Studio in Pittsburgh.

What's a reading hill you would die on?

You’re never too old to read children’s books!

The latest one I read was Little Shrew by Akiko Miyakoshi. This book celebrates quiet routines and the simple joys of life with soft, gorgeous illustrations. I think children’s books can be a wonderful reminder for adults to remember what’s important in life.

Describe your reading style in 3-5 words.

Fast, engrossed, and streaky. 

I’m either reading six books in a month and barely doing anything else or not reading anything for two months.

What’s your all-time favorite book?

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle

I read this, for me, at the perfect age—fifth grade. I read the whole series after that and have re-read the book probably five times (and I’m not much of a re-reader... more on this below!). The combination of relatable characters, sci-fi adventure and mystery, and love winning over all is something that hooked me then and still hooks me now.

Ebooks or audiobooks?

I’m more of an ebook gal. 

I already do a lot of listening to baseball on the radio, and it’s a long season! I also just read a lot faster than I can listen and comprehend an audiobook. But I do still try to listen to at a couple titles on audiobook each year! There’s one series that I will ONLY listen to on audio, and that’s Martha Wells’ Murderbot Diaries series. Kevin R. Free’s narration is perfection and really adds to the stories for me.

If you could only ever read one book again, what would it be?

I don’t like to re-read much, so this is always a hard answer for me. I think I’d pick a big-time comfort read. 

Something I’ve come back to multiple times is one of my favorite historical romances from Cat Sebastian called Two Rogues Make a Right. It’s about two men who have been lifelong friends and they reunite as adults and have a wonderful, personal journey falling in love and creating a life with one another. It just has everything I want in a romance novel. Sometimes if I’m in a funk, I’ll just pull it off the shelf and start reading in a random place. 

What did you do before becoming a Libby librarian?

I worked as a freelance professional cellist (I still like to do this on the side!).

After I went back to school for my Library Science degree, I worked in community colleges doing collection development, instruction, and reference, then worked in the Adult Services department at Westlake Porter Public Library doing collection development, programming, and reference.

What inspired you to become a librarian?

When I got to college, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do and declared myself an English major just because I liked to read. Turns out I don’t like reading classics, and I love studying music, so I changed my major to Music almost immediately. 

After studying music for six years and then working full-time for a bit, I realized I really missed learning and helping people in a way I wasn’t getting to do in my current work. The lifelong learning aspect of librarianship, and helping others be lifelong learners, was a really big part of why I got my Library Science degree and the reason I worked in academic libraries for a while.

What's the best part of your job? 

Anytime I have a great meeting with a librarian or go to a library conference. It’s awesome sharing ideas and getting to know the amazing librarians who make their digital collections the best they can be for their community. I love troubleshooting issues with them because they’re all intelligent humans who love to learn and help people.

⬅️ Here’s me on my latest visit to see library partners at the Minnesota Library Association Annual Conference! Love my MN libraries!

What’s one thing about being a librarian you wish more people understood?

I’m still TOTALLY shocked when people ask me if I get to read books all day as a part of my job. Ask any librarian; this is the thing they get to do the least in their day to day. First off, a public librarian’s day potentially consists of customer service, programming, collection development, meetings, and trainings. Not a lot of time left to read! 

Secondly, something librarians learn in school—and more importantly on the job—is how to stay up to date with books and be able to recommend books they haven’t read to others based on their knowledge, the reader’s interests, and more. So reading the book isn’t always necessary! 

There are also SO many avenues into the workforce that librarians can take that may involve completely different job responsibilities. Public libraries and schools aren’t the only places where you’ll see librarians. You’ll find them in hospitals, law firms, corporate entities, government agencies, museums, you name it!

What's the last book you read?

I just finished The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy by Roan Parrish. 

What a DELIGHT! It was the first time I’ve read Parrish’s work, and it won’t be the last. It’s a contemporary romance set in New Orleans about anxiety-ridden Edgar (cis he/him) who can see ghosts and a creative, outgoing haunted-house designer named Jamie (transmasc they/them). If you like romances about characters coming out of their shell, family dynamics, and really sizzling scenes in the bedroom, I highly recommend!

Your best reading advice:

If book challenges or being in a book club stresses you out, don’t do them!

Making up your own challenge if you’re trying to branch out can be really fun. I do poorly with challenges and book club reading, so I’m on my own to really motivate myself to read something that’s not a romance or romance-adjacent. What I often do is give myself one or two easy challenges that are outside of my go-to genres. 

This year, I want to read at least one epic fantasy novel/series (I just started The Priory of the Orange Tree) and finish at least one book of poetry. I set these because I know that in the past, after I finish these types of books, I’m always so happy I read them.

Maria’s book recommendations:

Here are a few more of my favorite series starters and genres I read the most, a couple nonfiction titles that really pulled me in, and a few books I’m looking forward to in 2026!

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang 

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein

The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candace Fleming

Books I can’t wait to read this year:

The Obake Code by Makana Yamamoto

A Lady for All Seasons by TJ Alexander

Nobody's Baby by Olivia Waite

How to Fake It in Society by KJ Charles

Hell’s Heart by Alexis Hall

Copland: A Story About America by Veronica Mang

Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Check back next month for another behind‑the‑scenes look at one of our Libby librarians! 

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