The following are your library board members: Crisanne Thompson, Melissa Donham, Barb Gomez, Mary Spoon, Chelsea Hrabe, Melinda Slaughter, and Ashley Lande
Crisanne moved around a lot growing up and moved to Leon in 2008, where she has settled, and is the longest she has ever lived in one place. She is a 1st grade teacher and knows that community and reading help children succeed in life. She would like the library to be a place for kids and adults to get books and other literacy activities. Crisanne doesn’t believe that sole responsibility falls only on our local schools. She hopes to build a community that offers services to its citizens and will help our community grow.
Melinda is a mom of 2 adult children and is blessed with 4 grandchildren. She has lived in Derby, Wichita, and moved to Leon 8 years ago. Her background is in early childhood education and story telling is one of her passions. Melinda has dreamed of having a functioning library open and inviting to all citizens in Leon with computers, internet, and printers that are available. Her passion is for the library to have a preschool story time, summer reading programs, and family craft nights. She is looking forward to see another way our little community to grow and connect with each other.
Ashley is an artist, writer, and mother of three whose writing has been featured in various magazines and a book of essays. Her first book, a memoir, is slated to be published by Lexham Press in October 2024, and her artwork has been shown in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Melbourne. She and her husband are originally from Kansas City, Missouri, but a job transfer brought them to a small town in Kansas eight years ago, they chose Leon for its character and have been delighted to see it grow and develop. A lifelong reader and lover of books, Ashley would like to see the library cultivate and refine a robust and diverse collection of fiction and non-fiction. She is an advocate for classic literature and beautiful writing and hopes to instill a love for those same things in library patrons. Additionally, she would love to see a thriving children’s program where children learn to cherish great stories and beautifully constructed language from an early age. She believes flourishing libraries are essential for flourishing communities!
