Victoria Bauman

Bauman beat Michelle Lippert with 57% of the vote. With her win, all five members of the CLN board that oversees six libraries in Kootenai County — plus Pinehurst Library in Shoshone County — were endorsed by the KCRCC's rating and vetting process. Her opponent Lippert drew an explicit comparison to NIC: "They had no power, but were constantly drawing attention to what was happening."

Bauman ran in support of the CLN board's policy restricting minor library cardholders from accessing materials deemed "harmful to minors." In January 2025 the CLN board voted to restrict the nearly 9,000 minor library cards from placing holds on materials from other libraries in the consortium and from accessing certain materials regardless of parental wishes. Bauman did not respond to interview requests. Her website says she moved to Idaho four years ago from California.

Fourteen of the 15 member libraries in the Cooperative Information Network voted to dissolve the 40-year consortium effective September 30, 2025. Several library directors pointed specifically to CLN's restrictive minor cardholder policies as the reason; some said abiding by CLN's policies would put their libraries at risk of litigation. The Osburn Public Library director said the potential lawsuit threat from CLN was "what created the fire under this situation." CLN abstained from the vote.

InlandShare Library Group — excluding CLN — formed to replace CIN, covering eleven libraries across the region. CLN patrons lost reciprocal borrowing access to the broader shared collection. The CLN disputed the reason for dissolution, claiming CIN was "originally formed in a manner that did not comply with Idaho statutes" — other libraries rejected this characterization as the real reason.

Fourteen of 15 member libraries voted to dissolve. Patrons of the Coeur d'Alene Public Library and 13 other institutions lost the ability to use their library cards at CLN branches. "It most definitely benefits a lot of our small rural libraries that don't have the budget for books that some of the bigger networks have," said one regional library director.

Following the completion of the KCRCC sweep of all five CLN board seats, the board enacted a series of policy changes: the CLN formally severed its membership with the American Library Association, characterizing it as a purveyor of inappropriate material; and the board removed Juneteenth as a recognized staff holiday, reassigning the time to Thanksgiving weekend.

Following Bauman's election, which completed a full KCRCC sweep of all five CLN board seats, the board enacted a series of rapid policy changes. The CLN formally severed its membership with the American Library Association, characterizing the organization as inappropriate. The board also voted to remove Juneteenth as a recognized staff holiday, reassigning the time to Thanksgiving weekend. These actions followed the earlier minor cardholder restrictions that had already caused the dissolution of the 40-year CIN consortium.