This article features Chelsea District Library (CDL), Michigan, which claims recognition as the 2008 Best Small Library in America, an award sponsored by "Library Journal" and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The aggressively responsive staff of CDL has created a model for small libraries all over America. There, careful research, proactive partnering, and innovative planning have built a varied suite of services and programs that ultimately won the library strong community support and the help and work of hundreds of local volunteers. A well-integrated team of librarians and library workers use their autonomy and freedom to be creative and open in their effective delivery of library service. As a result, victories in fund raising and elections have garnered the money to modernize and double the size of the historic building, add to the staff, and serve the whole community.