Women in Open Source: Jill Kleven

by Kalleen Marquise on Mar 10, 2021

This month we are interviewing some wonderful women in the open source community! Here are some excerpts from our interview with Jill Kleven of Pueblo City County Library District.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself, your background and your current role in open source.

My name is Jill Kleven and I am the Director of User Services for Pueblo City County Library District. My role includes managing the ILS, Collection Development, Digital Resources, Devices, and Resource Sharing. I received my MLS from Clarion University with an emphasis in Urban Librarianship but have really focused my career on access services. I am married with four children between the ages of 10 and 14. Each one participates in sports so I do a lot of chauffeuring. In my free time I enjoy traveling, cooking and running.

What led you to open source?

I discovered open source when PCCLD went to the market place for a new ILS in 2018. I was accustomed to the standard legacy clients and really had no idea how big the open source world was becoming. Once I discovered open source, there was no going back.

What is a favorite project, experience or memory related to open source?

I would say that my favorite experience with open source was discovering the Aspen Discovery product. Working with Mark Noble to customize our library catalog was both exciting and beneficial. Being able to identify the features that our customers would want in a catalog and watching Mark integrate those features was very rewarding. I had never had that experience working that closely with a vendor from an end user perspective.

What do you love about open source?

I love the sense of community and sharing most about open source. I think it speaks to what librarians try to do in their everyday roles- share information. Instead of just sharing information directly with our patrons, we get to share it with colleagues to make everyone's library experience better.

What is something you are listening to or reading right now?

I am currently reading the Queen's Gambit, which is PCCLD's digital book club selection for March and April. I also read any cookbook I can get my hands on, which in a public library is a ton!