Member Spotlight - Maisie Iven
December 23, 2024
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This week's spotlight is on Maisie Iven. Maisie is the Teen Librarian at the Naperville Public Library and she has served on the iREAD Committee and the Young Adult Services Forum.
We asked Maisie to answer a few professional and amusing questions. Continue reading to find out more about Maisie.
A little background on Maisie:
I grew up in a diehard library family. I honestly can't remember a weekend we didn't spend at our public library, and my brother and I were always encouraged to go to our school libraries in between classes. We were raised in northern Colorado by my mom, who encouraged me to volunteer at my public library. Not to brag, but I was the president of my library's Teen Advisory Group for ALL of high school 😉.
I went to undergrad at Coe College in Iowa, then got my MLIS at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2018. I got my first full time teen librarian job at White Oak Library's Lockport location, then in the midst of the pandemic, I started working at Naperville Public Library. Like a lot of people, I got the fun experience of meeting all new coworkers and not knowing what the bottom half of their faces looked like! I've been involved with iREAD since 2019 and the Young Adult Services Forum since 2020, and I am very excited to be the iREAD chair for this year's summer reading theme, Level Up At Your Library!
How did you get your start in libraries?
I like to joke I've been training to be a librarian since Pre-K! I grew up with a single mom who worked, so my brother and I were always at the library. I started volunteering there as soon as I was old enough because it was my favorite place to be, and I got my first job as a page once I was old enough to work. I've worked many non-library jobs, but they never measure up to working in libraries!
Best advice you've received since starting your career in libraries?
“It’s just not that serious.” I think it’s easy to fall into that awe factor of being in a role that’s helping people, but the best advice a boss ever gave me was to take a step back, take time for myself, and remember that we aren’t doing brain surgery, it will be okay.
Any advice to newcomers working in libraries?
Little victories are still victories! Even the small wins are worth celebrating, and something that doesn’t feel big to you may be huge for someone else! I can’t count the number of times I've helped with something that was a small moment of my time, but made a major impact on them, and vice versa! Those tiny moments will get you through the worst shifts!
When and why did you become a member of ILA?
I became a member of ILA in 2019! Like a lot of teen librarians, I was the only teen librarian at my library, and it was hard to not feel isolated. I felt like having a community of peers from across the state would help me feel like I was part of something bigger and help me feel like I wasn't doing this all on my own.
How has being a member of ILA helped you professionally?
Being involved in ILA has literally changed my life. The professional experience I got as a member of the iREAD Committee helped me get a job that I love! And the professional connections from the Young Adult Services Forum has helped shape my approach to work—I no longer feel like a solo act as a teen librarian, but like I'm part of a community that is there to help me troubleshoot problems, build new opportunities for the teens in my community, and to lend an ear when I'm feeling down about work. Plus, it's helped me meet just hands down some of the coolest library people!
What is your proudest professional achievement to date?
This is probably really sappy, but my proudest professional achievement is whenever a teen asks me to write a letter of reference for them. It makes me feel like I've succeeded at my job of making them feel seen and heard as people!
Hardcover, paperback, e-reader, audiobook, or all?
I love all of them, but my heart belongs to floppy paperbacks!
Favorite authors?
This feels like being asked about a favorite child! But if I HAD to pick, they’d be Stephen Graham Jones, Grady Hendrix, Jandy Nelson, Donna Tartt, and Ashley Woodfolk.
If you were stuck on a deserted island, what five books would you want with you to pass the time until being rescued?
This question also feels so impossible! How did I get to this island? Is it too far to swim back to shore? Where is this island located? How did the BOOKS get there? Regardless, I’d have to choose:
- The Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America
- How to Forage for Mushrooms Without Dying by Frank Hyman
- Devotions: Selected Poems of Mary Oliver
- Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- And just to cheat a little bit by picking a series, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater
I’m a huge horror fan, but I think I think if I’m alone on a deserted island, I would want to REALLY make sure I was ACTUALLY and COMPLETELY alone before picking up anything scary.
Cat or Dog?
I love them both! I can't choose!
Favorite film, podcast, or television show?
My favorite podcast is Just the Zoo of Us (an animal review show!), my favorite tv show is absolutely Twin Peaks (I rewatch it every year!), and my favorite movie would have to be Cocaine Bear.
One person you would like to meet, dead or alive why?
If I could meet anyone dead or alive, it would be Jane Goodall! I am someone who cares deeply about climate change and ecological justice, and I think her emphasis on hope and community based organizing has really influenced my approach to community work. PLUS, I want to ask her the dirty deets on all those chimpanzees!
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