Courtney Stevens recently completed a Management Summit with her leadership team and planned out a number of components of the year ahead.
When asked what prepared her for the role as library director, she had this to say:
When I think about the essential pieces of my professional past, three things come to mind: athletics, service and creativity. Being an athlete for nineteen years taught me about working when no one was watching, performing under pressure, and being part of a team. The time I spent in direct service (I was a vocational minister for ten years) opened my eyes to the needs of this community and how deeply people need to be loved and seen and valued. Those years gave me the opportunity to turn my emotions into actions. Creativity is my broad way of saying I spent the next years in the arts and I remain there, even as I lead at WCPL. Being a professional creative (for me, an author and speaker) means you know how to generate ideas, give them legs, evaluate their intent and effectiveness, and then edit and rebuild them into something palatable for people. In a word: humility. Nothing ever truly prepares you for the next thing, but I hope with these experiences in my toolbox, I’ll keep bringing my very best for the patrons of Warren County Public Library.