ENDORSEMENT: Vote for Lippert

I’m writing my support for Michelle Lippert for the Community Library Network Board. I have known Michelle since 1991 when we were longtime colleagues in the same department at North Idaho College. Michelle has a strong academic background, in both secondary and higher education, that gives her an excellent and informed perspective on the needs, responsibilities, and management of a community library.

As a longstanding trustee of the Post Falls School District Michelle was named Board Chair of the Year by the Idaho School Board Association in 2023, which is unequaled testimony for her understanding and ability as a board member. I know Michelle to be both a competent professional in administrative matters, and a conscientious and caring parent who will do everything appropriate to protect the welfare of library patrons, old and young. She will be fair and judicious in determining what constitutes harm in the library context, without unnecessarily restricting patrons’ access to the materials they seek.

In this time of creeping authoritarianism, the CLN needs Board members who are staunch supporters of Americans’ First Amendment Constitutional Rights. I trust Michelle to ensure the well being of young library patrons, without sliding the CLN into becoming the “thought police” of an Orwellian society in the hands of advocates for a vocal but extreme ideology. For a robust and healthy library, vote for Michelle Lippert.

TOM FLINT

Post Falls