After seeking and getting a new job that was more interesting and challenging, the longest-tenured employee at the Howell Carnegie District Library is celebrating 40 years at the institution today.
The milestone doesn’t seem like “that big a deal,” to Diane McKee.
The secret to her longevity is really quite simple: “I found the job that suited me, and I work with people I like.”
And while she thinks about retiring from time to time, McKee doesn’t have any immediate plans.
For the woman who first studied metallurgical engineering before moving to technical communications at Michigan Tech, her job in the accounting department of a pharmaceutical wholesaler in Novi was proving to be much too dull, and the commute there from her Brighton home too wearing.
“I was looking for something (closer),” McKee said. “I saw the clerical job at the library advertised in the newspaper. I thought it would be a good one for me.”
Her interview with then-director Kathleen Zaenger “went pretty well,” she said.
“When Kathleen asked me whether there was anything else she needed to know, I said, ‘this is my job.’”
And so it has been since 1986, when that clerical position became the library’s business office administrator with duties that include a little bit of everything, from budgets to human resources. “I introduce myself as Miss Elaneous,” McKee said jokingly.
During her tenure, McKee has seen the facility transition into a district library, and undergo a remarkable expansion that took it from 6,000 useable square feet to over 30,000.
When McKee began at the library, there was a single donated Apple IIC computer, as well as a dot matrix printer and microfilm reader. When the library finally got another Apple IIC, McKee shared it with Zaenger. Today, the library has 39 computers for staffers, as well as 51 for public use. Technology has transformed the way everything gets done.
When she started, she joined Zaenger as the only full-time employees out a staff of 7-8; today there are 47 employees at the library, 10 of whom are full-time.
Zaenger and McKee worked together for 32 years, and they remain friends to this day. McKee described why their relationship worked: “She functioned like my husband, and I functioned like her husband.”
Zaenger, who retired in 2018, described McKee as a very curious person who excels at research.
“She’s widely read, which helps with building the many collections that our library users appreciate,” Zaenger said. “I am so glad she has been with the library for so long.”
Holly Ward-Lamb, the library’s current director concurs.
“Forty years of longevity is a rarity in today’s world,” she said. “Diane has a giving heart, and the library and community have benefited greatly from her service.”
To mark those 40 years, the library is throwing one of its legendary pot-luck celebrations today.
“The potlucks are really nice,” McKee said. “Actually, they’re an interview question we use: ‘If you come to a potluck, what would you bring?’”
In addition to lots of good food, attendees today will surely be bringing their best wishes, thanks and admiration for McKee’s 40 years of service to the library she described as a “Hotel California”: “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.”
“It’s a great job for a parent,” McKee said. “It’s a good, flexible job. We aren’t making widgets. We don’t have production goals. If you like people reasonably well, it’s usually enjoyable.”
