“Honestly, I simply wanted to manage a library the way I had always wished I had been managed,” says Hill, with a laugh, when asked to describe her management style. “Coming up in this field, you get so tired of hearing ‘No,’ or ‘Let me tell you why that is not going to work,’ or ‘We tried that years ago; it didn’t work.’ ”

The new ED clearly believes that the best way to manage and lead is to hire smart people and get out of their way. “Giving the staff autonomy and freedom is the only way you can do it. If you micromanage, you will get nowhere fast.”

“It is great to seek and find really smart people, and I inherited really smart people at CPL, too. I’ve got a fine mix here,” Hill explains proudly. “Many of the staff were really frustrated and were happy to see change arrive. They were expecting and worried that everything would shut down.”

Congrats to Corinne Hill on being named 2014 Library Journal Librarian of the Year. I chose to share the quote above with this post because it really captures her awesomeness.  She’s got a great outlook on leadership and she really encourages all of the staff at the Chattanooga Public Library to dream big and try out amazing things.