Melissa Baum was hired as the first employee of the Friends of the Wichita Public Library in July, 2016 as the Operations Manager. She works 20 hours per week managing all bookstore and book sale tasks.
Melissa is a native of Wichita. She graduated from Northwest High School, attended Missouri State University where she received a Bachelor Degree in Business Management. Then she attended Baker University and received her MBA.
She is active in her church, loves to travel and go to the movies. She enjoys reading a variety of genres and appreciates it when a volunteer suggests a good read. One unique fact about Melissa is that her family of 2 sisters, mother and grandmother all live on the same street in west Wichita!
In addition to her part-time position with FWPL, she is the Operations Manager for a Super Hero, Kid Power! Kid Power Cares, Inc. presents a Broadway style musical program performed across the nation educating children and families on the importance of good nutrition and exercise.
As though she isn’t busy enough, her third part-time job is teaching Marching Band Flag Team students at Rose Hill High School. One of the highlights of her life was marching in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with the band from Missouri State.
Melissa says that the best thing about FWPL is the members and volunteers. She believes that enabling volunteers to work within their strengths will make any organization successful and that is one of her goals for working with the Friends. Of course, her other goal is to sell books to get them into the hands of the public and financially assist the Wichita Public Library.
Melissa loves Wichita and she is very excited for our city that we are moving into the new Wichita Public Library where we are bringing traditional media together with today’s technology.
The Friends of the Wichita Public Library is very fortunate to have Melissa as our Operations Manager. Her knowledge, skills, commitment and energy is a valuable asset to our organization.
Thank you, Melissa, for all that you do!