POST FALLS, Idaho — Several individuals disrupted the regular monthly business meeting of the Community Library Network (CLN) Board of Trustees on Thursday, March 20 at the Post Falls Library.
An unruly contingent of attendees shouted comments while Trustee Tom Hanley read from his prepared remarks. After the individuals ignored warnings from Chair Rachelle Ottosen to maintain order, a break was called and the trustees left the room with Director Martin Walters and staff.
Attendees continued to air their frustrations and even bickered with one another during the break while CLN’s legal counsel silently observed. Two-camera video footage of Hanley’s remarks and the disruption can be viewed on the CdA Freedom Watch Rumble channel.
Tamara Sines-Kermelis, an active participant in local LGBTQ+ advocacy groups who has worked as an elementary school paraprofessional, interrupted Hanley with “you’re not taking porn out, you’re taking [unintelligible]…you’re violating our constitutional rights” after he suggested parents who wish to can buy “the smut” from online retailers and book stores.
A visibly upset man hollered several statements at Hanley, including “You guys are violating our freaking constitutional rights,” “How about a lawsuit against you,” and “There’s worse books in schools that our children are reading everyday.”
In his prepared remarks, Hanley said, “More Americans are becoming aware that there is a plethora of perverted authors, perverted publishers, and perverted marketing operations who relentlessly produce and promote smut in an attempt to hypersexualize children.”
“This cabal depends upon our taxpayer funded libraries and schools to support their depravity,” he continued. “As a board member, I will do everything in my power to put an end to helping fund these purveyors of filth. To those thinking they will change my perspective and make material harmful to minors available to minors, I say, I make no apologies for this board’s great accomplishments over the past year and a half.”
I’m not certain I can think of a mission much more important than protecting children.
CLN Trustee Tom Hanley
After addressing a minor’s inability to purchase pornography, cigarettes, or alcohol, Hanley was once again interrupted. He finished his prepared remarks with, “Gee whiz, the infringements on children’s constitutional rights seem to be trampled upon at every angle, so suck it up and deal with it.”
At least two of the disruptors identified themselves as part of the Library Alliance of North Idaho (LANI), an advocacy group that openly opposes CLN’s updated policies meant to comply with Idaho’s new law which protects children from harmful material in public and school libraries.
LANI members Josiah Mannion and Theresa Birkett each gave public comments at the beginning of the meeting in opposition to actions taken by the board, as did attendees Michelle Lippert and Naomi Strom. Two other ladies, Marianna Cochran and Karen Johnston, gave public comments in support of the board and the director.
“I’m Theresa Birkett…I am president of the Library Alliance of North Idaho and I’m here to speak on behalf of all our members,” she stated. Birkett thanked Trustees Hanley and Ottosen for attending LANI’s screening of Banned Together and warned the board that censorship could lead to “costly legal challenges.” The group’s website does not list the names or profiles of its leadership.
Mannion, who wore a shirt with the slogan “Ban the Fascists, Save the Books,” spoke about CLN using the Miller Test on the Bible and retaining it on the shelves despite what some would consider its “prurient appeal.” On Mannion’s public Facebook profile, he refers to himself as a librarian, activist, organizer, and state director of American Atheists. He lists a position of employment as a CLN Library and IT Specialist.
An article published in FāVS News reported that a 2024 Unite Against Hate conference in Spokane was “organized by Coeur d’Alene activist and Idaho state director for the secular advocacy group American Atheists Josiah Mannion.” The FāVS News article listed local LGBTQ+ advocate Megan Dardis-Kunz as an event speaker who shared details of Kermelis’ workplace experience over LGBTQ+ attire.
“There’s no credible evidence that reading about same-sex relationships makes children gay,” stated Lippert during her public comment at the meeting. “Similarly, no research supports the idea that books discussing drug use lead to increased drug abuse…Books provide knowledge, not indoctrination.”
As a former trustee at the Post Falls School District who was appointed in 1999 and served for 24 years, Lippert is well-acquainted with public meeting decorum and did not participate in the unruly conduct. It is unknown to this publication if Lippert is part of LANI; however, she was part of the founding group known as the Community Library Network Alliance and has publicly supported North Idaho Pride Alliance.
A Coeur d’Alene Press reporter attended the CLN meeting and appears to have misconstrued the disruptive situation. In a published article on February 21, the reporter wrote that Hanley “told distractors to ‘suck it up and deal with it’.” This phrasing leads a reader to assume Hanley was responding in real-time to the activists’ repeated interruptions, while he was actually reading from a previously prepared statement listed as #15 on the meeting agenda. The article made no mention of the trustees and administration leaving the room when the audience became unruly.
As The Press reported, many of the 140 books at CLN pending review for compliance to Idaho law are best-sellers. This best-seller status conflicts with the LANI narrative that these same books are somehow “banned” by CLN policy that may relocate the material to an adult-only collection.
An article covering the substantive business discussed by the CLN board will soon be published by Kootenai Journal.
