Patti Kangethe is marking her first anniversary as Executive Assistant to the Johnson County Librarian. She still feels surprise and joy at the opportunity to serve the Library’s vital mission.
“This is where I never knew I was meant to be,” she says. “It uses all the things that I love. It supports all the things that I love.”
Kangethe brings an impressive set of experiences and skills to the job, as well as a special perspective. As a child, she struggled to learn to read. That gives her extra empathy for others with literacy challenges, and a real appreciation for the Library world of books, audio books and free access to information and services.
This is her first Library job, but she has been an administrative assistant in many capacities, so she is used to helping her professional colleagues do their jobs well.
That’s the role she fulfilled for Sean Casserley, just retired as Johnson County Librarian, and now for his successor, Tricia Suellentrop. Kangethe also serves as liaison between the staff and Library Board.
She grew up in Rockford, Illinois, where her mother taught art. Kangethe loved art and math, but reading strained her brain. She worked hard at spelling and comprehension to overcome those difficulties.
Eventually she and her mother moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin. For her high school senior year, Kangethe commuted daily by train to the Chicago Academy for the Arts, a fantastic experience. Many of her teachers were Kansas City Art Institute graduates, so that inspired her to attend there as well.
From 2003-2007 she reveled in art, majoring in sculpture. She also gained valuable experience as administrative assistant to the sculpture department chair.
After college, she worked briefly for Stephany Leedy, daughter of her teacher, legendary Art Institute professor and Crossroads Art District founder Jim Leedy. She continues to volunteer and support their gallery, the Leedy Voulkos Art Center.
For 10 years, she was an administrative assistant for the SFS Architecture firm in Kansas City. She got married in 2013 and in 2018 earned a master’s degree from Avila in organizational development, learning a lot about management and strategic planning.
She also has a heart for volunteering, and was a crew leader from 2008-2016 with Kansas City Habitat for Humanity, putting her artistic and building skills to use.
“The best part of that,” she said, “was it wasn’t necessarily about building the best house but giving the best experience to the volunteers while making sure the house was safe.”
She and her husband Tony have two sons, Isaiah, 5, and Ezra, born in April 2020, right after the pandemic shutdown. Fortunately, everyone stayed healthy and it was a nice family time.
The family lives in Olathe, and in 2018, Kangethe became development services coordinator with the Olathe Planning Department. She worked closely with developers and the Planning Commission.
When the Library position came open, Kangethe realized she had the right skill set, and she was hired in September 2021. Working with Casserley and now Suellentrop has been wonderful.
“This organization is so committed to supporting its employees,” she said. “They are so forward thinking and allow people the time to think about things and plan for the future.”
She and her family love visiting the Lenexa branch and she can also flex her artistic muscles at Central’s re-opened MakerSpace.
After a year, she’s thriving and learning to anticipate the Library Board’s needs. “They are so supportive,” she said. “They support the work that our staff does and they want our mission to succeed.”