Bow’s Baker Free Library will still have books on its shelves and programs for town residents, but one aspect of the library will soon change.

Residents entering the building will no longer see a familiar face as Linda Kling, the library’s director, will retire after 21 years of service. In addition to building the library’s collection of books, Kling also helped bring the library from card catalogues to computers, with a few stops in between.

“When I came we had manual typewriters. We didn’t just jump into it when everyone was doing it, we went to it when it was clear the town wanted that. We tried to keep up with the technology people want to have in their library,” said Kling. “One gentleman and his wife gave me a card saying thanks for bringing the library into the 21st century.”

After graduating from Rutgers University in 1980, Kling had a goal to find a position in New England on the coast.

“I thought I did pretty well for that,” she said. “I feel so lucky because people think librarianship is boring and repetitive, and when I became a librarian it was a very exciting time. I was able to help to continue on the good library that I found when I started.”

Prior to the library’s expansion, Kling and her staff always had to keep one eye open for a common problem.

“The shelves had been so tight that they would fall down. It happened with some frequency, and we used every bit of space possible,” said Kling, who said she had to teach her staff the signs that a shelf was on its way down.

For Kling, getting to know her regulars at the library was a big part of the job description.

“The memories and the emotions that I’ll miss the most are meeting families and new residents coming in as well as residents who have been there forever from getting their cards to going up through high school,” she said. “You’re part of their lives because you help them find things and help them with projects.”

Although Kling is the director, she said it is the community members who truly have the most say in what happens with the library.

“It is work, because I’m getting paid for it, but it’s the friendships you make and having a positive impact on the community,” Kling said. “It’s such a nice community to work in, and because I was always looking for input people were always really honest. It’s their library. It’s the town’s library, not mine.“

Kling has no worries about the future of the library, as she said she has a great deal of confidence in the staff she has worked closely with over the years. “It’s like a ship. It’ll just keep moving and keep doing the good things they’ve been doing,” said Kling.