Where are they now? Leslie Madden (BA, ‘87, MA ‘94)
Leslie Madden attended VCU for both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in English. She worked at Cabell Library throughout her studies, eventually coming to a full time position during her master’s program. She now works as Team Leader for Library Services for Arts & Humanities and Research & Engagement at Georgia State University.
“I really enjoyed helping people,” Madden said. “That was one of my favorite parts of the job was working with the students and faculty who would come into use the library. And so that’s sort of what helped me decide that I wanted to make a career out of librarianship.”
Madden grew up in the Northern Virginia area and decided to attend VCU after visiting Richmond and its campus. She called Richmond “magical” and a “very exciting place to be.”
During undergrad, Madden worked in the government documents department filing microfiche and made friends with a coworker, Mollie Ketelhut– who she is still in contact with today. After graduation, Madden spent two years working at a law firm library in Washington, D.C., before deciding to return to VCU to pursue further education.
Once back on campus, Madden again found herself at Cabell Library, but this time as a graduate assistant in the reference department, working with CD ROM databases. Eventually Madden moved into a full time library assistant position available in the reference department.
In this position, Madden split her time between the reference desk and maintaining the collections. The position taught her how libraries are organized and how they operate. During this time, Madden was tasked with learning about reference indexes and helping any who came to the desk.
One time while changing out the pages in a research journal, Madden said she saw a student who had brought his Maltese dog into the library to study with him.
“That was probably one of the crazier things I saw while I worked there,” Madden said.
Despite pursuing a master’s degree in English literature, Madden found herself invested in continuing to work in libraries. Two of Madden’s coworkers, Juliegh Clark and Karen Cary, took her out for lunch one day and encouraged her to apply to the University of North Carolina’s library sciences program.
“I think it had been something that had maybe been building subconsciously, but once they said that it was like well of course that’s the logical thing for me to do,” Madden said.
Cary, who still works at VCU Libraries as the head of Collections Analysis and Investment, said she is grateful that Madden decided to go to library school, since she seemed to enjoy her time at Cabell.
“There are many things that I remember about Leslie, including her intelligence, her diligence, her enthusiasm for learning new things, her patience and positive attitude, her attention to detail, her ability to focus, and her ability to communicate well,” Cary said.
Madden entered the UNC program immediately after finishing her masters program at VCU. She spent the summer of 1995 in Tianjin, China at Nankai University to conduct research for her Master’s Thesis The Development of Reference and Automation Services in Chinese Academic Libraries. During Madden’s time in Tianjin she participated in the famous Peking Opera.
“At the end of the summer, we put on a performance and professional costumers and make-up artists came to get us ready,” Madden said. “It was one of the most nerve-wracking and exhilarating things I’ve ever experienced.”
After completing her program at UNC, Madden accepted a position in the law school library at University of Georgia. She then relocated to Atlanta to work at Georgia Tech for eight years. Eventually Madden settled in Lilburn to work at Georgia State University as an instruction librarian. She has worked at GSU for 19 years now.
In addition to her professional positions, Madden is a member of the Association of College and Research Libraries. She has published two books through the organization, including: The Desk and Beyond: Next Generation Reference Services and Now You’re a Manager: Quick and Practical Strategies for New Mid-Level Managers in Academic Libraries.
Exploring instruction and developing learning aids for students and other librarians was central to Madden’s role at GSU. However, over the years, Madden’s position has evolved, and she now is a humanities subject librarian who manages a team of five. She teaches, but has a broader role. The position provides Madden with the opportunity to learn about various departments.
“That’s one of the things I love about being a librarian is that everyday is different and it’s a continuous learning process,” Madden said. “I’m always learning something new.”