MAYOR THADDEUS JONES RE-DIRECTS THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF RITA MAYFIELD TO THE CALUMET CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY

Rita Mayfield
Rita Mayfield

 

MAYOR THADDEUS JONES RE-DIRECTS THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF

 RITA MAYFIELD TO THE CALUMET CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY

 

MAYFIELD’S IMPRESSIVE BACKGROUND AND 20 YEARS OF PUBLIC SERVICE WILL BE A GREAT BOOST TO THE LIBRARY’S OPERATIONS 

 

MAYFIELD’S DUTIES NOW SHIFTS FROM CITY HALL

TO THE CALUMET CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY

 

 

 

Mayor Thaddeus Jones is announcing that he has asked current City contractor, Rita Mayfield, to lead the operations at the Calumet City Library. After successfully completing various administrative initiatives for Calumet City since the inception of the current administration, Mayfield has agreed to now lead the much-needed transformation of the Calumet City Public Library facility and its operations.


Mayor Jones made the recommendation to the Calumet City Public Library Board of Trustees in August of 2022. The board unanimously voted 7-0 to appoint Ms. Mayfield into the position of Executive Director. She is now responsible for the implementation of various innovative programs, expansion of hours of operations, new and innovative technology, management of the library staff, and facility improvements. Given Ms. Mayfield’s remarkable background in education and public service, she will be a fantastic addition to the future success of the library.


Upon Mayor Jones being sworn into office in 2021, he inherited a very chaotic library system that was poorly managed, lacked modern technology, and was outdated in its operations and infrastructure. The management of the library had become very cliquish and limited in scope.


“We are tremendously grateful to have Rita Mayfield lead the Calumet City Public . Rita has been a long-time advocate of public libraries throughout the state of Illinois. She has an extensive knowledge of organizational development. She also has a keen sense of team building philosophies as well as workforce strategies. We are grateful to have her on board and excited for the future of the Calumet City Public Library,” says Mayor Thaddeus Jones.


Rita has over 20 years of public service dating back to her early years of volunteering as a weekly reader at the VA Medical Center in North Chicago. Her love for reading initiated her advocacy for libraries. She has personally benchmarked many successful library systems throughout parts of Illinois.


Recently she invited HGTV personality Tiffany Brooks to visit the Calumet City Public Library to lend her professional evaluation of the overall layout and design of the current library that has lacked any improvement for over twenty years. It was then determined that the current design was not conducive to the modern learning trends and failed to provoke particular emotional responses in library users.


Mayor Jones adds, “After a very thorough evaluation of our library, Ms. Mayfield has informed me that our library fails to offer technology that is accessible to our patrons, lacks natural light, seating for collaboration and for independent work, and offers no modern distinct zones for different uses.”


Rita currently serves on several boards and leadership positions for multiple community service organizations. Rita previously served as Vice President of the Waukegan Board of Education and is currently serving that community as the first African American female elected to the position of the 60th District Illinois State Representative.


Ms. Mayfield has run a successful real estate business for 20 years. In addition, she owns a consulting company that provides cost reduction, organizational restructuring, change management and process improvement services. She currently is writing a book on change management


“I want to thank Mayor Jones for such an amazing opportunity. I am so excited to engineer our efforts to ensure that we are putting our users at the heart of everything we do. Good collaboration with academics will enable the library to offer a connected and interactive environment to support teaching and learning. Our goal will be to continue to develop programs that will better serve the Calumet City community.” says Ms. Mayfield.


Since joining the administration in 2021, Ms. Mayfield opted to not receive any benefit package beyond her financial compensation. This is inclusive of any pension benefit along with any medical and dental plan.


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