Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Friends build upon librarian's dream

Clearwater branch leader Lois Klein's wish for a reference desk is fulfilled months after she loses her battle with cancer.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published June 4, 2005

CLEARWATER - For years, as manager of the Countryside library, Lois Klein held onto sketches of a reference desk she hoped to construct.

She talked about it often: It would distinguish her branch, she thought. But finding the funds to pull it off wouldn't be easy.

"That desk was the mountain Lois wanted to climb," said her husband, Clearwater police Chief Sid Klein. "She was proud of that library. ... She didn't want her staff or her library to be forgotten."

Lois Klein, 64, of Palm Harbor died Feb. 8 after a long battle with cancer, her dream unrealized.

Until now.

On Sunday, at 12:30 p.m., a new reference desk will be dedicated in her honor, the realization of weeks of work and more than $5,000 in donations. Hundreds of people are expected to attend, including Mayor Frank Hibbard and members of the City Council. A scholarship at Clearwater Christian College has also been created in her name.

Planning for the desk - which Lois Klein hoped would better accommodate computers and improve customer service - began shortly after her death. Senior members of the Police Department wanted to honor her and their grieving boss.

They partnered with her friends from the library and began to raise money. They operated in secret, wanting to surprise the chief.

"She was certainly one of our family," said Deputy Chief Dewey Williams, one of the organizers.

Lois Klein joined the city's public library system in 1978, beginning as a librarian in the young adult and audiovisual sections. She became manager of the Countryside branch in 1993.

When Klein learned of the surprise people were planning, "I was absolutely floored," he said. "They got me real good."

The police chief added, "If she were here, Lois would have reacted with the biggest smile you ever saw."

--Jacob H. Fries can be reached at 445-4156 or jfries@sptimes.com

[Last modified June 4, 2005, 06:14:28]