Meet the Libby Librarians — Meghan Volchko

It’s Library Lovers’ Month, and we’re feeling the love not only for our favorite institutions, but also for the people who make them great. Last month, our new monthly series debuted, spotlighting one of our Libby librarians who helps recommend books on Libby Life and supports library partners across the country. We’re heading behind the scenes again to get to know another staff librarian, who will share her favorite books, her inspiration for becoming a librarian, and more recommendations for you.

Since February is the month of love, it seemed like the perfect moment to chat with Libby Librarian Meghan Volchko, our in-house romance expert and lover of HEAs/HFNs (happily ever after/happy for now). In fact, Meghan was a selector for the 2026 Libby Book Awards Best Romance category, as well as Best Cookbooks. As Meghan joked, “The way to a future partner's heart is through their stomach, so I think they go together just fine!” 

Read on to find out which book Meghan can't wait to read with her young daughter and how her journey to becoming a librarian started by hanging out inside the book drop. 

What's in your mug?

Raspberry black tea with a good glug of agave, extra hot (bonus points if it’s in a mug that is comically large)

⬅️ Giant mug + chef rat = perfection

What's a reading hill you will die on? 

There is no such thing as a “guilty pleasure” read. All reading is a pleasure with no guilt!

Describe your reading style in 3-5 words.

Mercurial, comforting, and quick.

Reading for me has changed over the years, from what I read to when I read, and it has evolved in each season of my life. As a parent to an elementary school child, my “free time” now is so late in the evenings, that I don’t get as much reading done as I once did because I’m sleepy! I also read a lot more romance and things with my beloved HEAs/HFNs, because I need to know that things will be okay, when I once read mostly literary fiction and nonfiction. You are allowed to evolve and have different needs in different times of your life, but make sure you listen to all of your audiobooks at 2x speed, minimum!

What’s your all-time favorite book? 

Alanna: The First Adventure (or the whole Song of the Lioness series, really) by Tamora Pierce 

I am counting the MINUTES until my daughter is old enough to read these (they’re YA), and I still think I’ll put these books in front of her perhaps a bit too early sheerly out of my own excitement. I even suggested Alanna or Tamora as names for my daughter when we were choosing her name and the husband shot them both down. 

This book, and this series, changed me. They made me into the reader I am. I’ve read them all a million times, the paperback spines broken at my favorite parts. I just can’t describe how much they mean to me. Girls can be warriors and make choices that are best for them and still have it all, even if it’s not what everyone expects them to do. Perfection.  

Ebooks or audiobooks? 

Both!

I’m always reading an ebook (especially important when sitting around at assorted lessons/practices for the kiddo) and listening to a different audiobook (see previous statement about kiddo’s activities, but swap the “sitting around” to “driving around”). I also love listening to an audiobook to wind down at the end of the day while I do a puzzle!

Lady PawPaw is not always the best helper for my puzzle and audiobook time...

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

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

This is so incredibly “basic” of me, but this book is my “get out of a reading slump” guarantor. Ebook, audiobook (traditional or the Graphic Audio version), they’re all going to save my brain and reset it. 

Fun fact: I do not own these books. I’ve only ever checked them out from Libby! 

Name a book you think everyone should read.

No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder

When I’m not gobbling romance novels, I’m into narrative nonfiction and trying to better understand the world around me. When I read this book years ago, it broke me, while opening my eyes to the horrors that many endure at the hands of their partners. I still think of this book often, especially as I raise a child and many of my friends and family do the same. While this is not an easy read, as no book about domestic violence would be, it is superbly well-written, compelling, and will hopefully make you a more informed advocate for everyone experiencing this. It can also help better your understanding of how someone ends up in this situation and why they “won’t just leave.”

What inspired you to become a librarian?

When I was growing up, my grandmother worked at the circulation desk at her local public library in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and I spent HOURS there every week. I spent most of the time in the kid’s area, watching film strips and reading D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths next to the Peter Pan statue. I also would sometimes haunt the front desk (my favorite was to hang out in the rolling cart in the book drop and try to scare people by sticking my hand out of the slot). 

As I grew older, I spent a ton of time in my local library closer to home in Akron, voraciously reading every book I could get my hands on. And always, in the background, was the wonderful library staff, there to be a safe place full of lovers of words and stories, just like me.

When it came time in college to figure out what I wanted to do with my life (my dreams of being a Broadway star dashed by my inability to dance or act), my family reminded me of how much I loved the library, and how proud it would have made my grandmother, who was gone by that time. It really felt like destiny, and I will never forget calling my family in happy tears when I got my acceptance letter to grad school for Library Science.

What did you do before becoming a Libby librarian? 

I worked in academic libraries of all shapes and sizes! I’ve also worked in retail for years, was a receptionist at a family practice, nannied, worked in an Akron-style pizza, chicken, and jojo shop (if you know, you know, 330!), and was the person to add butter to your popcorn at the movie theater!

What's the best part of your job?

Being able to connect with librarians all over the country (I work with librarians in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Texas, and Oklahoma), and help them best serve their patrons is so huge.

While I have so much knowledge about Libby, these librarians really know their communities so much better than I ever could, so getting to empower them to do the best for their patrons is so rewarding.

I also love that I sometimes get to see them in person at conferences (and also meet Frog and Toad!). 

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

We’re people, too. We are here to help you with your book recommendations, research needs, and setting up the printer. We’re doing story times and remembering your kid loves The Magic Tree House and getting that book club set up. We don’t ask for much, we’re happy to help, but remembering to say, “Thank you for all you do!” would go such a long way for your staff at your local library! 

National Library Week is in April, so be sure to reach out and acknowledge your librarians for all the good they do in your community. 

What's the last book you read?

Ebook: The MASH Up by Laura Marie Meyers

I am so lucky that as a Libby librarian, I get access to so many advanced reader copies of books. So while this one won’t be out until July 2026, I want it on your TBR if you love fun, funny millennial-core romance novels (especially if you thought, “Isn’t that the game that I played on notebook paper during study hall in middle school?” Yes, yes it is.) It’s a book now, and it imagines what would happen if you woke up one day and suddenly everything that you predicted on that college-ruled sheet came true...

Audiobook: Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fire and America’s New Age of Disaster by Jacob Soboroff

Unless you are really, really good at avoiding the news, you probably heard about the devastation that occurred in January 2025 when fires ripped through L.A. County and destroyed entire communities. It’s hard to believe just how much devastation occurred and how the lives of so many people would be affected. For Jacob Soboroff, this was not just another story he was reporting on for MSNBC, it was the town where he grew up and where much of his family still lived. His book is part memoir, but also a look to the future to see how we are preparing for a time when things like this could be happening more and more often. This is a must-listen (or read!), especially as it’s read by Soboroff himself.

Your best reading advice:

Read what makes you feel good. Don’t be embarrassed to read anything. Always remember that reading is fun, and if what you’re reading isn’t fun for you, put it down and pick up something that is fun (unless it’s for school or work or whatever, then just get through it until you can read something for you that is fun!).

This shelfie zoomed in would show a heck of a lot of different books, and also that I cannot stand when people organize their bookshelves by color and not by category (this is part of my nonfiction section). Also to brag on him a bit, my husband designed and built this floor-to-ceiling built-in bookshelf.

Meghan’s book recommendations: 

Since reading is fun, here are some fun books from the last couple years and upcoming that I have really, truly loved!

Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young

Everyone I Kissed Since You Got Famous by Mae Marvel

The Next Best Fling by Gabriella Gamez 

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston 

The Truth According to Ember by Danica Niva

Murder in the Dressing Room by Holly Stars

Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson

The Broposal by Sonora Reyes

I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming

Just Our Luck by Denise Williams 

My Best Friend’s Honeymoon by Meryl Wilsner 

Ride with Me by Sione Soltani 

It Had to Be Him by Adib Khorram

Motor City Love Song by Lisa Peers

Crown of War and Shadow by J. R. Ward

Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian

Pot Shot by Laura Piper Lee

Fossil Feud by Maggie North

The Very Definition of Love by Sophia Benoit

Want to read more from Meghan? 

Check out a few of the recent posts she’s written for Libby Life—lots of audiobook recs, a sprinkle of romance, and some Oscar buzz!

💘 12 sweet to spicy romance audiobooks to listen to for Valentine’s Day

🍿 Your literary guide to the 2026 Oscar nominations

🔪 25 twisty audiobooks for fans of Freida McFadden’s psychological thrillers

Come back next month for another behind‑the‑scenes look at one of our Libby librarians and be sure to subscribe to our weekly newsletter so you don’t miss a thing.