Longtime Melvindale library director Theresa Kieltyka (left) announces her retirement during the Aug. 18 city council meeting, as Council members Dawn Cartrette and Scott Frederick, executive secretary to the mayor and council Cecilia Dally, City Clerk Linda Land, City Administrator Richard Ortiz, Mayor Wheeler Marsee and City Attorney Lawrence Coogan listen.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
MELVINDALE – Longtime Melvindale Library Director Theresa Kieltyka announced her impending retirement at the Aug. 18 City Council meeting, prompting both congratulations and regrets from those she has served.
Kieltyka said she will turn 66 in two months, and when she gets her first Social Security check, she will step down as library director.
She said she hopes youth services librarian Jeannine Warrow is chosen as the new library director.
“She’s young, she’s full of energy and she has a lot of great ideas,” Kieltyka said.
She said she plans to work one to two days a week until the end of next May.
“I have really enjoyed it here,” she said.
She took Mayor Wheeler Marsee on a trip down memory lane, and reminded him how he used to come into the library to use the copier in his younger days.
Marsee, in turn, recalled how he would bring his children into the library for story books, which they would read to them at night to try to get them to fall asleep.
“It was a wonderful resource, and so close to the house,” he said.
Kieltyka thanked the council for approving the many projects with which she has approached the body over the years.
“That’s why I am staying a little bit longer, so I can sit in that cool chair that I ordered for myself,” she joked.
Kieltyka thanked City Administrator Rick Ortez for his support, and Department of Public Works Director Larrie Ordus for his dedication while overseeing the library building improvements.
Ordus, in turn, praised the great work she has done at the library.
“I’ve worked with a lot of people, and I really enjoyed working with you,” he said.