James Hill approved as Nick Tepe's replacement

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CHILLICOTHE - One of the innovators behind a unique bike lending program launched by the Athens County Public Libraries has become the new director of the Chillicothe & Ross County Public Library System.

The hiring of Athens County Public Libraries assistant director and access coordinator James Hill, 45, to take over the reins of the local library system was approved Wednesday by the library's board of trustees. It marks a trade, of sorts, as former Ross County library head Nick Tepe last year ended up going to the Athens county system to take the director's role there.

"We actually had the chance to look at James at the time that we hired Nick," said board president Tamra Lowe. "He ultimately has worked since then with Nick (on occasion) and once again applied for the position so he didn't have to wait for a third time to be a charm.

"His background, his overall library experience, his background with graphic design and branding, his commitment to community service and the library being a big part of what's going on in the community (were selling points). He and Nick have a lot of similarities — some things different, but a lot of similarities. I think we saw a lot of the strengths we saw in Nick, a lot of the qualities that we found very appealing in Nick, we also have seen those things in James."

Hill brings a wide variety of experience with him from a career spent in library work going all the way back to his time as a student page. Since then, he's worked as a branch manager, fiscal officer and assistant director. He said that even though the role of libraries has changed over the years, he still sees their basic mission as a place to share, regardless of the materials to be shared.

He was among those who put that philosophy into action in 2013 when he was instrumental in taking an idea and creating the Book-A-Bike program in the Athens County library system.

"The administration was looking at a staff wellness program and we were trying to think about what we could do to give the staff a chance to get outside and do something and the director at the time said, 'How about bikes?'" Hill said. "Someone else said if we're going to have bikes (for staff), why not check them out (for the public)? So we did some research and poked around on the internet and discovered no one was doing that. There's a lot of alternate lending things, everything from cake pans to music instruments, but nobody was lending bicycles, so we had to build the program from the ground up."

The bicycles, which can be checked out with a library card for up to three hours, have been among the most circulated items in the system since the program hit full stride, he said. It has worked so well that it has spawned similar programs in Meigs and Gallia counties.

Another initiative he was involved with was working out a partnership with the Amesville mayor's office and local Grange to create a high-speed internet location available to anyone in a lighted parking lot at the Grange. A second such agreement was worked out with a senior center in New Marshfield with the intent of both being to provide a place for people with wireless devices who may not be able to afford high-speed internet at home to be able to come and use those devices for work or school purposes or just to access a service like Netflix.

Hill, in materials submitted with his application, also touts efforts to boost energy efficiency in library buildings with the Athens County system, his success in helping build partnerships between the library and the community and his understanding of library finance and communication as strong suits.

In accepting the Ross County position, he looks to bring all of those skills to bear, as well as making the library an organization that can facilitate author visits like the one by "Dreamland" author Sam Quinones last year and that can work with the Ohio University system to bring interesting lecturers to Chillicothe for presentations.

Lowe said the board asked consultant Lynda Murray to lead the initial search, having been happy with her efforts in finding Tepe the last time a new leader was sought for the library system. Murray did the initial screenings and submitted about a dozen names to the board, which whittled the field down to two internal and two external candidates. After what Lowe said were exhaustive interviews, Hill was selected.

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