Meet…
3 December 2008
SLIS Alumna Melany Wilks Named Library Director
Only one year after receiving her MLIS at SLIS, Melany Wilks has been named the new Library Director of Pioneer Memorial Library
in Colby, Kansas. Although she is a recent graduate, Wilks already had significant library leadership experience prior to entering the program, having served in a number of capacities at an academic library in the Philippines. While serving at Asia Pacific Theological Seminary (APTS), a faith-based graduate school, she was a Periodicals Librarian for one year, Library Coordinator for a year and a half, and Library Services Director for five years. Wilks also earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Religious Education and Master of Arts in Theology during that time.
Prior to her years of work and study at APTS, Wilks worked as a mercy missionary for five years with a non-profit group called Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Manila, Philippines. She worked with families living at one of the country’s worst slums, located in the shadow of the Smoky Mountain garbage dump, where many families were forced to scavenge in order to stay alive. There, she led a program that equipped urban poor children to attend and succeed at nearby public schools. Among other vital services, Wilks conducted literacy classes and operated a study center that was equipped with a reference library and provided tutorial help.
After finishing the MLIS program at SJSU, Wilks was determined to find a position that was meaningful and in which she could make a difference. She approached the job search itself as a full-time job, studying job postings and requirements as well as the communities in which she might work. It was on a listing posted by the Mountain Plains Library Association where she came across the listing for the Library Directory position at Pioneer Memorial Library. Ultimately, it was the sense of community that led her to fall in love with the small town in northwest Kansas.
"I felt that, as Director, I could make a difference in the community," says Wilks. She sees a great opportunity to make an impact, but also recognizes the challenges. "I’m not going to change things overnight," she states. "It takes teamwork. I’m not going to do anything alone."
Part of Wilks' inspiration came from the book The Power and the Dignity: Librarianship and Katharine Sharp, about the woman who established the first school of library science in the Midwest. "Librarians took the cause of people and libraries and saw how they could make this nation great. I saw how smaller libraries are unsung heroes, helping people who wouldn’t have services otherwise, giving them access to books and the Internet."
"I have a great staff, a library that serves the community, and it's really a community that loves its library." Wilks encourages current students to think carefully about what makes them happy and what they are passionate about, and to pursue a career accordingly. As she moves forward, Wilks will continue to read and hopes to get her PhD. "Education is not always about going somewhere," she points out. "For me, it's about learning, and making an impact on a place, and being the best I can be wherever I am."
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