Great Barrington — The town’s new Libraries Director Samara Klein said she has always been a “book person … I don’t know if it flows through your blood or not, but I grew up in a book house,” Klein told The Berkshire Edge. “The written word, reading, and writing all surrounded me as I was growing up. When it was time to launch into a career, being in the literary industry just felt like home.”
In late August, Klein was named Libraries Director and will be overseeing both the Mason and Ramsdell Libraries.
Her father is author Daniel Klein, and her mother was journalist and filmmaker Freke Vuijst-Klein. Not only was Klein raised by a literary family, but she also grew up with the town’s library system. “The first time I visited the Mason Library was when I was a child,” she said. “I was a frequent patron who would spend a lot of time running around the library.”
As time went on, Klein became the director of PJ Publishing at the nonprofit PJ Library, which is a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in Agawam. Klein also has worked as the marketing and rights director at The New Press, the senior manager at Clavis Publishing, and sales manager for Abrams Books.
While she moved up the ladder in the literary industry, Klein said her heart has always been with libraries. “I’ve wanted to be a librarian for quite some time now,” she said. “I have been repositioning my career within the book world towards the library world. It has been a dream of mine to be working in a library, but also in this community that I have known and loved for my whole life.”
Klein said that, while both libraries have had to scale back their services during the COVID pandemic, she is hoping to restore many of its services. “We want to make it where both libraries can once again be a place of resources, services, and materials that meets the community needs,” Klein said. “I think there have been some facility challenges that staff in the buildings have been grappling with for a little while. I am eager to overcome these obstacles so that we can provide a lot of programs for the community. I also hope to work with a lot of the organizations in the area for programs. There are many great cultural and social service organizations in this area that I think the library can partner up with.”
As for the future of books, Klein said despite the growing popularity of eBooks, digital libraries, and online media, libraries and printed books will still be around.
“Books and libraries will never go out of style,” she said. “People still prefer printed books. We also provide access to computers and WiFi. We provide access to information, and that is never going to become obsolete.”
For more information on the town’s libraries, including ongoing programs, go to its website.
