Cindy Cleary, who saw Glendale libraries through a technological transformation, will retire next month

Cindy Cleary smiled when she first walked into the newly renovated downtown Glendale Central Library last year. It had been undergoing a major renovation for two years, and she could feel the culmination of her work as the library’s director, she said.

“We had put it up, hammered the last nails,” she said. “I walked to the building by myself and it was tears of joy. I couldn’t believe we had done it.”

On July 2, Cleary will be walking out of that building for the last time as library’s director. After a 37-year-long career with the library system and the city of Glendale, Cleary is retiring from her role as the leader of one of the city’s key establishments.

During her tenure, Cleary spearheaded the transformation of Glendale libraries to be community centers and tech hubs and had a part in positioning the city as a leading arts and cultural destination.

She helped modernize both library’s facilities and resources, adding services and creative spaces such as a MakerSpace in the Central Library with 3-D printers, sewing machines and a recording studio.

Her most proud accomplishment, she said, is leaving behind two gifts for the community — the recently renovated and modernized Central Library and the Brand Library and Arts Center.

“It’s bittersweet,” she said. “I’m sad to be leaving everyone behind, but I’m happy to be starting a new phase in my life.”

Cleary began her career in the Glendale library system as an intern at 27 years old. But it took some time to get there.

She grew up in Nyack, N.Y., a small rural town 30 miles north of Manhattan, where there was one small library that was the hangout spot for kids after school, she said.

The beautiful old stone building had just one room with a fireplace and was located along the Hudson River. It was a gorgeous place, she said, and it opened her eyes to the world of literature, leading her to study English in college.

Upon graduating, she didn’t know what to do next, so she took a personality test that matched her with an ideal profession. She got two results — an accountant or a librarian.

Cleary, with her English degree, went with the first option and eventually moved to California to work in the accounting department of CBS’s “The Price is Right.” But she didn’t feel fulfilled.

“At that point, I said, ‘I want to do something else,’” Cleary said. “There was that little seed in my brain. I thought, maybe I should try libraries, because I had such positive experiences.”

She was admitted to UCLA’s two-year graduate program in library science. At the time, it was the beginning of information technology, she said, so the program was computer-based, albeit with very large computers.

She learned to catalog materials electronically, research and conduct reference interviews.

Technology has changed enormously since then, but the experience set the foundation for her tech-focused approach to the local libraries.

After her internship in the Downtown Central Library she was hired full time as a children’s librarian. She climbed the ranks, becoming an art librarian and supervisor at the Brand Library and Arts Center, where she managed the art galleries and then went back to the downtown Central Library as an administrator.

She was eventually promoted to assistant director in 2002 and director in 2008.

With the evolution of libraries and technology, and the advancements at Glendale libraries over decades, it’s difficult to pinpoint specific career highlights, Cleary said.

“It’s been an incredibly wonderful career,” she said. “A lot of people do the same thing over and over, and I’ve been fortunate to have such a variety of experience, both in seeing the evolution of libraries and the types of jobs I’ve had. To see that type of growth is awesome.”

Chuck Wike, the Library, Arts & Culture community relations manager who has known Cleary for about 30 years, said she has always had a vision for Glendale libraries to be not just a repository of books, but gathering places that are ahead of the curve in terms of technology.

She has welcomed change with open arms, he said.

“There were no personal computers in the 1980s when she came into the library,” he said. “You just didn’t have those things. Now, we have DVDs, we stream video, we stream audio … It’s a massive evolution, and she’s been there for all of it. She has not been afraid. She hasn’t backed down.”

Books are nowhere near dead, Cleary said. In fact, Glendale library patrons check out close to 1 million books a year.

But Cleary has made room for services and resources that patrons may be surprised to find. With just a library card, which is free, they can take online classes in coding, numerous languages and how to play musical instruments.

Patrons can stream television shows and movies, and they can use the library conference rooms as gathering spaces or for late-night study sessions.

Now that she is leaving behind a capable staff and numerous resources for the community, Cleary’s plan is to escape for a while, she said.

She will spend the first six months of retirement traveling the world— from the Grand Canyon to Vietnam to Costa Rica. She’s not sure what she’ll do when she returns from her trips, but she’s likely to stay involved in Glendale, she said.

She hopes to volunteer for various nonprofit organizations, such as the local Kiwanis Club, and make her rounds to the libraries as a patron.

“This is the city I grew up in, really,” she said. “It’s been good to me, and I want to give back.”

Residents can say goodbye to Cleary during a reception from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Wednesday in the auditorium at the Central Library., 222 E Harvard St.

alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com

Twitter: @r_valejandra