Name: Melissa Frantz
Job Title: Special Needs Consultant
Job Duties: Promote Talking Books to libraries, schools, nursing facilities, and the general public by providing publicity materials, presentations, and by other means; Train library staff on Talking Books and needs of the visually impaired; Manage the SEKLS special needs collection; Assist Talking Books patrons in a group or one-on-one as needed; And much, MUCH more.
Years with Talking Books: 5 years
Hometown: Piqua, KS
Favorite Book/Author/Series/Genre?
I really enjoy Christian Fiction, but my all time favorite book is “The Christmas Box” by Richard Paul Evans. I read it every Christmas.
Have you ever faked reading a book?
Not that I can remember.
Best library memory:
Taking my children to story time at Iola Public Library. We have kept many craft projects from story times over the years.
First book you remember being read to you?
My mother read me the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder when I was very young.
If you could have any famous person narrate any book, who would it be, which book & why?
This one is tough. I enjoy hearing different voices for different books. Narrators (not just for books) I’ve enjoyed in the past would be Morgan Freeman and James Earl Jones.
What do you find most rewarding about working at Talking Books?
When patrons see me at an event or meeting and tell me how much Talking Books has changed their life.
Farthest you’ve ever been from Kansas?
Homestead, FL AFB (Birth place)