Authored By seanphippster

The executive director of The Public Library has been awarded the library equivalent of Artist of the Year by Library Journal.

Chattanooga’s Corinne Hill has been named 2014 Librarian of the Year.

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This annual award-sponsored this year by Baker & Taylor-recognizes one talented individual who is transforming their library, community and profession.

Rebecca T. Miller is the editorial director for Library Journal. She said Hill was chosen because of her transformation of The Public Library into a “vital hub of learning and experimentation.”

“She did it first by connecting to Chattanooga as a place and responding to the city’s ambitions as a tech center,” Miller said in the release. “And she did it by pulling in great librarians and then setting them free to make magic. In the meantime, Hill has created a model for other librarians to watch, delivering great traditional services as she and her team test the cutting edge of library service. We are very pleased to name her the 2014 Librarian of the Year.”

In a prepared statement, Hill attributed much of her success to her team, including assistant director Nate Hill, teen librarian Justin Hoenke, youth service manager Alei Burns and systems administrator Meg Backus.

“Honestly, I simply wanted to manage a library the way I had always wished I had been managed,” Hill said. “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.'”

Hill was named a Library Journal “Mover & Shaker” in 2004. She became executive director of The Public Library in 2012. Since her arrival, Hill has created a culture of technological and organizational innovation.

The Library Journal was founded in 1876 and is read by more than 75,000 library directors, administrators and staff.