New regional library network forms

COEUR d’ALENE — A new regional library network is emerging to serve patrons across North Idaho and Eastern Washington as the decades-old library consortium prepares to dissolve.

InlandShare Library Group will include the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, as well as the public libraries in Kellogg, Liberty Lake, Mullan, Osburn, Plummer, Priest Lake, Silver Hills, St. Maries and Wallace. The Pend Oreille County Library District and West Bonner Library District will also be in the new group. 

These libraries will continue to share physical and digital resources with one another, allowing patrons to access materials from the entire shared collection. 

“This new consortium is built on shared values of access, collaboration and community service,” said a news release issued by InlandShare Library Group on Friday.

The Community Library Network — which includes the libraries in Athol, Harrison, Hayden, Pinehurst, Post Falls, Rathdrum and Spirit Lake — and the Benewah County Free Library District will operate independently. 

In July, the majority of the Cooperative Information Network voted in favor of dissolution, effective Sept. 30. For more than 40 years, the consortium had allowed libraries in North Idaho and Eastern Washington to share their collections. Patrons could use their library cards to borrow materials from any library in the network at no cost. 

“This decision comes after ongoing legal and operational challenges made it increasingly difficult for member libraries to work together under the existing framework,” the news release said. 

The vote to dissolve the existing consortium came after months of unsuccessful efforts to reorganize the entity under a new name and a new joint powers agreement. 

“Over time, disagreements over how the (joint powers agreement) should be updated or enforced have created tension and made collaboration increasingly difficult,” InlandShare Library Group said. “In addition, recent policy changes by some libraries affected the ability of others to serve their patrons equitably, prompting a reevaluation of how to move forward.” 

Several CIN member libraries have pointed specifically to the Community Library Network’s restrictive policies for minor library cardholders as the impetus for the dissolution. 

The Community Library Network, which abstained from the July vote, has asserted its new and updated policies played no role in the consortium’s dissolution. Rather, CLN said in a recent news release, the consortium dissolved because it was “originally formed in a manner that did not comply with Idaho statutes” more than 40 years ago. 

Library patrons across the region are likely to notice changes as the existing consortium winds down. 

Holds between the three library networks — InlandShare Library Group, the Community Library Network and the Benewah County Free Library District — were shut off Friday. Patrons can only place holds and pick up items within their own network. Items borrowed from a library outside a patron's network must be returned to their library of origin. 

Between August and September, libraries will begin updating patron records to reflect their taxing districts. 

All networks will have transitioned to fully independent systems by Oct. 1, according to InlandShare Library Group. 

Each library network will set its own policies for nonresident cards. For example, the Coeur d’Alene Public Library provides nonresident cards to patrons from outside the current CIN geographic area for an annual $30 fee. The Community Library Network provides nonresident cards to patrons for a $25 annual fee. 

The future of the Cooperative Information Network’s shared Libby/OverDrive catalogue is not yet determined. 

“The collection will be divided among the new networks and each group will decide how to manage its digital offerings,” InlandShare Library Group said.