POST FALLS, Idaho – The Community Library Network (CLN) Board of Trustees appointed a new trustee following the resignation of long-time Trustee Katie Blank on June 16. Karen Campbell was sworn into office on Thursday, June 27 and will serve out the remainder of Blank’s term which ends May 2025.
“I am honored to be chosen as a Trustee on the CLN Board. I look forward to serving the patrons of the libraries in our communities,” stated Campbell. “My desire is they experience a love for the library as I do.”
Campbell’s appointment came just 10 days after the board unanimously approved two new policies governing material selection and withdrawal procedures after months of debate, legal review, and modification.
“The board of trustees worked many hours and meetings with these policies trying many different approaches before settling on splitting the policies and customizing each for their separate purposes,” stated Trustee Tim Plass. “The withdrawal and relocation policy had to be aligned to match the new Idaho law and provide the process and forms to relocate material. It was natural and even implied in recent court decisions, to separate the selection and acquisition policy to ensure the harmful material cannot be purchased even if the other policy allows it to be relocated.”
All libraries in Idaho must be in compliance with the new Idaho “Children’s School and Library Protection Act” (HB710) which goes into effect July 1. Supporters of the new policies at CLN believe the proactive measures taken by the board will enable staff to implement procedures to adhere to the new law which is designed to relocate material that is harmful to minors into an adult-access-only area of the library.
“CLN may be the only library district with separate policies because combined policies seem to be the standard,” continued Plass. “The board believes this is the best solution until experience indicates adjustments are needed.
In a press release dated July 20, the CLN board explained both policies. The selection policy guides the purchasing decisions regarding what material CLN can acquire and it has its own definition of what is unacceptable in material for minors. The withdrawal and reconsideration policy uses the exact “harmful to minors” definition found in the new Idaho statute and stipulates the process and forms used to review and relocate such material. According to the release, recent court decisions have stated that “libraries are afforded great discretion with their selection and acquisition decisions,” meaning they have more freedom with what they choose to purchase than what they are able to remove.
Last year, CLN joined other libraries by disassociating with the American Library Association (ALA) following the association’s selection of a new president, a self proclaimed Marxist by the name of Emily Drabinski. Since the ALA’s “Bill of Rights” was written into CLN’s old material selection and reconsideration policy, it took the adoption of these new policies to remove any reference to the ALA in official policy.
Patrons and community members can find CLN policies and forms at https://communitylibrary.net/board/#policies, including the Request for Relocation of Material Form.
