EDISON – The Edison Public Library has a new director known nationally and internationally in the library profession.
The Board of Trustees of the Edison Public Library appointed Allan M. Kleiman at its reorganization meeting on Jan. 12. Kleiman began his new role on Jan. 19.
Kleiman said he looks forward to working with the board in the coming year.
“I think we’re going to do great things together,” he said, adding the library staff and Keith McCoy, who had been serving as interim library director, has been helping him transition and develop his first 100 days. “Top of the list is to spend time in all the buildings and get to speak a little more with all the staff.”
The Edison Public Library has three branches: main, north Edison and Clara Barton.
Kleiman brings to the Edison Public Library a vision for innovation, technology and fiscal responsibility at a time when the library is poised to take on the new challenges that every library faces in a post-COVID world, he said. He hopes to create a new image for the library bringing it into the 21st century that meets the needs of all Edison residents.
He began his professional career working at the Brooklyn and Queens public libraries in New York. He later held administrative positions at the Cranbury, Irvington, Jersey City, Westfield and Old Bridge public libraries.
He comes to Edison after 11 years as director of the Montville Township Public Library in Morris County and over 20 years working part-time at the South Plainfield Public Library.
Kleiman is well known nationally and internationally in the library profession for presenting workshops and sharing his expertise on equity, diversity and inclusion issues, especially those dealing with service to older adults, the elderly and persons with disabilities. Nationally, he chairs the American Library Association’s Committee on Older Adults.
He is also active professionally statewide, currently serving as a member-at-large on the LibraryLinkNJ Board of Directors and as the second vice president of the New Jersey Library Association.
Along with appointing Kleiman, the Library Board of Trustees reorganized with nominations for Patricia Massey and Lisa Krauze to serve as board president and vice president, respectively.
The board also welcomed Yash Pandya as a new board member.