Rhonda McReynolds Acquisitions and Cataloging Manager
Max Wirestone Office Admin/ Circulation Desk Supervisor
Howard Fields Library Aide
Nicole Holifield
Nicole Holifield began working at the Tonganoxie Public Library at the beginning of 2015. Before entering the library science field, Nicole studied Social Psychology at Parkville University and obtained her MSW, Masters in Social Work from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She proceeded to work in the social work field for 18+ years as a Social Worker and Manager over a homeless program, services for expectant women, private adoptions, and children/adults with severe and persistent mental illness. Nicole previously worked several Tonganoxie Public Library jobs such as Library Aide and Children/Adult programmer before being hired as the Director in September 2016. Recently she obtained her Masters in Library Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Her passions include laughing, cooking, singing, reading, and pugs. She is enormously appreciative of the fantastic staff and feels extremely fortunate to remain a part of this growing community.
A native Alabaman, Max has been working in libraries for most of his life. As a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, he cut his teeth as an assistant at the school’s music library, and from there has worn a lot of different hats in a lot of different libraries, from directing work-study students at KU’s Watson to being the director of quaint little library in New Hampshire. Currently, he divides his time between working with patrons here at Tonganoxie, doing freelance reporting for the Topeka Capitol-Journal, and playing super-dad for his seven-year-old son. Additionally, he’s the author of the Dahlia Moss mystery series, published by Redhook, and has other secret publishing plans coming down the pike.
Howard Fields grew up in southwest Missouri and graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a degree in Business Administration. After serving in the United States Army for two years, he and his family settled in Kansas City where he worked at Farmland Industries and Hallmark. He then moved to Houston, Texas where he worked for an oilfield services company. Eventually, he moved to Tonganoxie, Kansas when he retired because his wife, Donna wanted to enjoy all four seasons in the year. He has now worked, part-time at the Tonganoxie Public Library for 11 years and enjoys meeting the patrons and working with the outstanding staff.
Lani has lived in Tonganoxie, KS her whole life. She graduated from Tonganoxie High School in 2018 and started working at the library in January of 2019. Lani loves reading, listening to music, and meeting new people. Her dreams are to become a teacher as well as to travel to Ireland and Scotland. Lani also volunteers during Story Time, Toddler Time, and at the Chieftain Cafe.
Susan joined the staff at Tonganoxie Public Library as Adult and Children's Programmer in May of 2019. Most importantly she is a mother of seven and grandma to three. Her favorite activity is when the family gets together at her house for lots of food, laughter and family games. With her degree in Education from the University of Houston, Susan has spent thirty years in various educational roles, including middle school teacher, reading specialist, curriculum developer, and director of a national tutoring franchise. Susan loves children's literature, theater and music so leading Toddler Time and Storytime are a real treat, and not just for the kiddos! Anytime you'd like to bounce around ideas for new programming, or just to say hi, drop by her office as long as she's not off calling BINGO or blowing bubbles!