Longtime Community Library Network trustee resigns

Katie Blank, a longtime Community Library Network trustee, has resigned from the board.

Blank served on the library board for more than 30 years and as chair for more than 10 of those years.

She submitted her resignation letter to the board Sunday.

"Recently some very challenging health concerns have been brought to my attention," Blank said in the resignation letter. "This has caused me to look carefully at the priorities in my life. I am realizing that it is no longer sustainable for me to serve on this board. It is negatively affecting my health. It is negatively affecting our livelihood. It is negatively affecting my relationships with my family and friends."

The resignation was effective immediately. Her term was set to end in 2025.

"I’m not quitting the library, I’m pivoting," Blank said in a Monday phone interview with The Press.

She said the decision to resign from the Community Library Network board was painful. 

"To serve this community and the public library for over 30 years has been an insane honor," she said.

She said one of the reasons she is leaving is because she "cannot watch the destruction of this library system, and that’s what feels like is happening.

"As part of the minority, I was being silenced continually. There was not healthy discussion allowed," she said. "That's what parliamentary procedure is all about, healthy discussion and debate, and none of that was happening."

She said opinions that differ from those of the board majority were not allowed, and that silencing is a form of censorship.

The majority comprises Chair Rachelle Ottosen, Vice Chair Tom Hanley and Trustee Tim Plass. Blank was often in the minority with Trustee Vanessa Robinson.

"The board majority are a number of people who obviously have never even used libraries much, are not even aware of how they work, are not even aware of where things are located in a library," Blank said. "They were micromanaging the library; they are focusing so completely on things that are not their job and not taking care of the big things that are their job."

Those big things include the network's budget, as it is budget season, Blank said, as well as needs pertaining to facilities, vehicles, the library collection and services.

"Services to the public are being cut," she said. "Yet, we pay for this very expensive attorney to sit there. It's like, holy mackerel, people are complaining about taxes. Is this where they want their money to go?"

Blank's exit follows the June 7 resignation announcement of library Director Alexa Eccles, who will depart from the network effective July 7. Eccles has been with the district just over a year. Her predecessor, Amy Rodda, resigned from the director position in November 2022 after joining the network in May 2021.

The Community Library Network is one of Idaho’s largest public library districts, with libraries in Post Falls, Athol, Harrison, Hayden, Pinehurst, Rathdrum and Spirit Lake, as well as the bookmobile. The Post Falls and Athol libraries are currently offering limited services as they undergo significant repairs caused by weather damage in January.

Blank, who has had a library card since age 6, said she profoundly believes in the First Amendment and the free exchange of ideas and information. To see these rights and libraries around the country under attack is awful, she said.

"To leave on this note couldn't be more painful," she said.