Newly elected Community Library trustees will shift the board to the far right, campaigned on removing books

The challengers for the two Community Library Network trustee seats, who campaigned on the idea that members of the North Idaho board need to do more to keep sexually explicit books out of the hands of kids, beat the incumbents by a significant margin in Tuesday’s election, shifting the balance to the board to the right.

Tom Hanley and Tim Plass will replace incumbent trustees Judy Meyer and Regina McCrea.

“I knew the conservative part of the county would be in favor of us, and they sure came through,” Plass said. “We talked to a lot of people, and I think they understood the problems. It’s pretty clear.”

The Community Library Network provides library services to all of Kootenai County, with the exception of Coeur d’Alene, as well as parts of Shoshone County. Trustees serve six-year terms.

“I’m not surprised at the outcome,” McCrea said, “given the tone in the community and the tactics used during the campaign.”

The election completes a shift that began two years ago when newcomers Rachelle Ottosen and Vanessa Robinson replaced incumbents Bob Fish and Michele Veale.

Ottosen and Robinson, like Hanley and Plass, advocated for removing library materials and were endorsed by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee.

The committee released a dramatized video ad over the weekend that falsely implied that North Idaho libraries are showing sexually explicit materials to young children.

Meyer and McCrae were backed by a moderate group called the North Idaho Republicans.

Ottosen has been especially vocal against LGBTQ-related programs and books. She also testified to the Idaho Legislature in support of recent obscenity bills targeting libraries and librarians.

Meyer and McCrae had argued that board members shouldn’t be in the business of restricting access to books and that parents should decide what their children are allowed to check out.

“I’m hopeful that they will take some time to understand the library’s structure and existing policies before immediately going in and affecting changes,” McCrea said.

“I feel a genuine obligation to follow through with what I have campaigned upon,” Hanley said in an email, “primarily, to make the minor’s areas of our libraries safe places again. Please keep all of the trustees in your prayers as Kootenai County works diligently to deliver, and attempts to set an example for other library systems to follow.”

Hanley told The Spokesman-Review last month that he was motivated to run for the library board in part by a quote he recently read attributed to Pope Leo XIII: “Christians are born for combat.”

On the other hand, in Boundary County, the two incumbent library trustees held on to their seats.

Aaron Bohachek won his seat for a full six-year term on the Boundary County Library Board with 61% of the votes, while his challenger, Lewis Clark, had 39%.

And William “Lee” Colson beat his opponent Mary-Esther Wilson 55% to 45% for a two-year term.

Colson and Wilson also had been critical of the library potentially giving children access to explicit materials.

A committee chaired by Colson recently updated a policy that gives community members a process to challenge library materials they find concerning. The board plans to discuss three young adult novels by Ellen Hopkins on Thursday.