Community Library Network

The Community Library Network is the public library system serving Kootenai County. By 2025, KCRCC-endorsed candidates held all five board seats. The documented results: hired attorney Colton Boyles without competitive bidding - he scored a D-minus on qualifications, had a DUI conviction, and had never represented a school or library; imposed minor cardholder restrictions that caused 14 of 15 member libraries to vote to dissolve the 40-year Cooperative Information Network, cutting 8,900 kids off from other libraries across North Idaho and Eastern Washington; rejected a small tax increase to maintain services and cut hours, including Sundays; and after completing the full sweep in May 2025, cut ties with the American Library Association and removed Juneteenth as a staff holiday.

• New regional library network forms
  Coeur d'Alene Press · August 2025
  • Eleven libraries formed a new regional network without CLN, locking CLN patrons out of the replacement system.
  • CLN claimed the old consortium was illegal; other libraries said that wasn't the real reason for the split.
• Regional library consortium members vote to dissolve Cooperative Information Network
  Spokesman-Review · July 2025
  • 14 of 15 member libraries voted to dissolve the 40-year consortium because of CLN's minor cardholder restrictions.
  • Other libraries said following CLN's policies would expose them to legal liability.
  • Primary Source
    Regional library consortium will dissolve Sept. 30, Coeur d'Alene Press
    Confirms CLN's January 2025 minor cardholder policy changes as the impetus; dissolution ended more than 40 years of shared collections across North Idaho and Eastern Washington
• Cooperative Information Network dissolves, ending shared library access across region
  KXLY · 2025
  • Patrons of 14 other libraries lost the ability to use their cards at CLN.
  • Small rural libraries that depended on the shared collection for books they couldn't afford were especially hurt.
• Victoria Bauman wins Community Library Network seat
  Spokesman-Review · May 2025
  • Her win completed a full KCRCC sweep of all five CLN board seats.
  • Her opponent compared what was happening at CLN directly to what had happened at North Idaho College.
• CLN Board: policies enacted following KCRCC sweep
  Community Library Network · 2025
  • Once the full sweep was complete, the board cut ties with the American Library Association and removed Juneteenth, the federal holiday marking the end of slavery, as a staff holiday.
  • Primary Source
    CLN Board Packet, June 19, 2025 Regular Board Meeting
    Board meeting packet documenting policy actions taken after the KCRCC board sweep was complete
• Kootenai County library system approves adult-only room for books with mature content as 140 titles pulled from shelves
  Spokesman-Review · January 2025
  • The board stripped 8,900 kids of access to other libraries in the network.
  • Their own lawyer warned this created more legal risk than the law required - they did it anyway.
  • Primary Source
    CLN Board Packet, May 2025
    Includes $65,700.90 payment to Clerk of the District Court documented in April 2025; annual legal budget exceeded in FY2024 with months remaining
• North Idaho College hires attorney with extremist ties who scored lowest on board assessment
  Spokesman-Review · August 2023
  • The CLN board hired Colton Boyles at the same time as NIC's KCRCC board - two institutions, same political insider, both times over more qualified candidates.
  • Boyles scored a D-minus on qualifications, had a DUI conviction, and had never represented a school or library.
• 'Please don't bleed our libraries dry'
  Coeur d'Alene Press · July 2023
  • The community asked the board to take a small tax increase to keep services intact; the board said no and cut hours instead.
  • The library now closes on Sundays.
• Library network to retain Boyles Law Firm
  Bonner County Daily Bee · June 2023
  • The board added firing their attorney to the meeting agenda without warning, then voted to do it the same day.
  • The outgoing attorney said she had come to understand she didn't share the board's objectives.
• Library network to hire Boyles Law
  Coeur d'Alene Press · June 2023
  • KCRCC members had previously tried to install Boyles as county prosecutor; commissioners picked someone else.
  • He has represented other far-right figures in losing legal battles.