Materials, director search on library network meeting agenda

The Community Library Network board of trustees will hold a regular meeting from 2 to 5 p.m. Thursday at the Hayden Library.

Board members will discuss budgets and financial statements, circulation statistics and facilities and legislative updates.

Librarian Kari Wilson will present an annual report on the network's collection development and technical services. Interim Director Lindsey Miller-Escarfuller will also provide a director's report.

Board Chair Katie Blank said at the last meeting several people were concerned about books containing obscenity.

"We’ve added to our materials selection policy, from Idaho Code, that says we won’t knowingly have obscenity in the library," Blank said Tuesday. "They want to know how we plan to implement that."

She said tools exist for those who object to library contents.

"One of them is a request for reconsideration of items and the other is a request for purchase of items," Blank said. "You can make a request as a member of the community."

She said requests to reconsider materials are not guaranteed to remove the materials in question, but they will go under review.

"They're taken quite seriously," she said. "Requests for reconsideration are the way you get the library to look at a book and see if it should be removed, moved or changed."

She said the Community Library Network has only had two requests for reconsideration make it to the board in the past year.

"It is a tool that unlocks the ability of the library to move forward and look at a book," Blank said. "We don’t listen to what people say just from the public comment and remove a book; that’s not in our policy. The procedures the director uses are not that."

She said the most important aspect of reconsidering materials is to take that material as a whole.

"That is in the federal Constitution, the state Constitution," she said. "Just taking what’s said at public comment is not taking the book as a whole."

The library network also offers tools for parents to monitor their children's accounts and other resources to help families better explore and enjoy their local libraries, Blank said.

Another item on deck for Thursday's meeting is an update on the director search. Former Community Library Network Director Amy Rodda resigned Nov. 21, citing unforeseen family circumstances requiring her to move back to Colorado, which she left to come to North Idaho. The network, which hired a recruiter, began recruiting for the position Dec. 14. A search committee is expected to meet sometime next week. Applications are due Jan. 22, although applications will be accepted until the position is filled. The first round of interviews will be held Feb. 1-3 with final interviews Feb. 17-18.

The Hayden Library is at 8385 N. Government Way, Hayden.