Plum Community Library enters the new year with a new director and more virtual programming.

Pam Calfo of Pittsburgh’s North Side has taken over for Marilyn Klingensmith, who retired as director little more than a month ago.

Calfo was welcomed to the library in November and formally took the reins in December.

“Plum’s an excellent community, and I’m really happy to be a part of it,” she said. “The staff here are fantastic to work with, and they’ve really taught me a lot in the past month. I think there are a lot of opportunities moving forward to really connect with the community and to be able offer programming and continue our curbside service.”

The library was closed to the public most of last year and its programs moved online due to the covid pandemic.

Curbside pickup remains available for people checking out items. It is unclear when readers will be allowed back inside at 445 Center-New Texas Road.

Calfo was selected out of seven candidates in a statewide search, library board president Laura Mason said.

“Pam’s experience in a suburban public library and vision for the future was the best fit for our library and our community. She has a community-focused approach that will strengthen the relationship between the library and other community groups and services, and she brings new energy and new ideas to meet the challenges of today and a fresh perspective for the future of the Plum Community Library.”

Klingensmith, who assisted with the transition, declined comment. Mason thanked the retired director for her service to the community.

“Marilyn had been with the library since the early days in our small storefront library on Unity-Center Road and worked as library director for the past 14 years,” Mason said. “The library saw many changes over her tenure, including the addition of the children’s library section. Marilyn has a good sense of our community strengths and a great rapport with our patrons. Our long-serving staff is a testament to her caring nature and passion for library services and we look forward to welcoming her back as a patron.”

Calfo said Klingensmith has a wealth of knowledge and great insight into the community.

“To be able to learn from her was a really good experience because she knows the community,” Calfo said. “She knows what has worked here.”

Calfo has some administrative experience in library operations during the pandemic. She was Bridgeville Public Library’s circulation supervisor for about 14 months before taking the job in Plum.

“There I was helping with curbside pickup and more of covid policies and procedures to implement to make sure staff and patrons were safe,” Calfo said.

She also served as public services librarian at Baldwin Public Library from 2014 to 2019.

Calfo grew up Warrington, Bucks County and found a career path in libraries while studying to be a journalist at Elon University in North Carolina.

She was the sports editor of the school paper and did some freelance sports writing after graduation.

Calfo would go on to earn a masters in library and information science from the University of Pittsburgh.

“I always have loved libraries,” she said. “I grew up going to the library. It kind of makes sense that I fell into working in a library. I love more so the stories at the library in college. When I worked at my first job in Atlantic City, I really saw first hand how a public library can be the center of a community and have so many different roles within a community.”

She worked as an information services librarian and archivist at the Atlantic City Free Public Library.

She lives with her husband of more than five years, Vince Calfo, an electrical engineer from Murrysville.

Calfo hopes to expand on Plum library’s virtual reading programs and develop more opportunities for patrons.

Curbside pickup is available Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

More information about Plum Community Library’s activities is available at plumlibrary.org or call 412-798-7323.

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