CLN board appoints new trustee

POST FALLS — The Community Library Network board appointed and swore in a new trustee during Thursday's special meeting.

Karen Campbell of Hayden was selected in a 3-1 vote to fill the board vacancy left by longtime board member Katie Blank, who resigned June 16.

Campbell was chosen over one other nominee, Ron Hartman of Kootenai County. Campbell was nominated by Vice Chair Tom Hanley and voted for by Hanley, Chair Rachelle Ottosen and Trustee Vanessa Robinson. Trustee Tim Plass, who nominated Hartman, cast the sole vote for him.

"I've always had a great, great love for the library," Campbell said. "As a child, I enjoyed so much going to the library and checking out books that would satisfy the desires of my heart."

Campbell has experience as a bank teller and loan officer and is retired from her position as a flight attendant with Southwest Airlines. She said she is an avid reader and taught her children to read before kindergarten.

Her goal as a trustee is “to protect our children," Campbell said.

“I am concerned about any harmful information that would be accessible to our children,” she said.

This includes explicit sexual content, she said.

“I would want to make sure that there was a protection there,” Campbell said.

She said she is not talking about banning books, but that she doesn't want children to easily access some materials.

“As far as who I am, the Lord Jesus Christ is my personal savior," she said. "My education was education — I was going to be a teacher, I completed three years, but then I got married after my sophomore year and started having children, so I didn’t complete my degree. But my love is for the children."

Each nominee was given more than three minutes to share their qualifications with the board as well as their interest in the vacant board position.

Hartman, who shared his extensive corporate work history, has no previous experience serving on a public board, although he has made unsuccessful bids for several board positions since he arrived in North Idaho in 2020. He touted his status as a Kootenai County Republican Central Committee "rated and vetted" candidate.

Campbell has previous public experience serving on the Hayden Arts Commission. She is also the leader of Praying Warriors, a "boots on the ground" prayer ministry of Candlelight Christian Fellowship.

Hanley said a number of prospective appointees who desired consideration "have been openly hostile to this more conservative board throughout my first year in office," even though the board is ensuring tax dollars are not used to make pornography available to children, he said. He said those aspiring trustees were cast aside and he did not deem them worthy of serious consideration.

Robinson said she feels the trustee position should be held by someone who will advocate for the library, which she saw in Campbell's presentation. 

"She is here because she loves libraries; she has a past with libraries," Robinson said, adding that she also appreciated Hartman's presentation.

"But, as an advocate for the library, and considering the existing board right now, I'm definitely looking to have Ms. Campbell as our new trustee, just because of the aspect of love for library and understanding of library," Robinson said.

Ottosen, who did not put forth a nominee because she said the person she wanted to nominate was "stolen," said she spoke to 10-15 different people interested in the position and it was "super hard to narrow it down."

"I would love a trustee who loves books, education, the libraries, our community and has experience on a governmental board and desires peaceful and meaningful discussion and decisions on the board, hoping to help heal the contention that we've had with the community," she said. "So I'm also thinking Karen Campbell."

This was the 20th meeting this year for the Community Library Network trustees. Seven of those meetings were held this month.

The next regular meeting is scheduled for 2-5:30 p.m. July 18 at the Post Falls Library, 821 N. Spokane St.

Info: communitylibrary.net