Support for ImagineIF Libraries: A quick action guide

The current crisis for ImagineIF

Over the past few years, the Flathead County Commissioners have appointed people with strong anti-tax and anti-government beliefs to the library board. Those board members' recent decisions are causing the library to lose important funding and could lead to censorship, which is a violation of our First Amendment rights.

For more information on these dangerous decisions, you can read these articles.



You can also attend the town hall meeting that Glacier Queer Alliance and Love Lives Here are hosting from 6-8 pm on Thursday, January 13 at the Gateway Community Center at 1203 US Highway 2 in Kalispell. Charlotte Housel from the ImagineIF Library Foundation will be a featured speaker. We’re meeting in theThe Gathering Space, which is accessible from the northeast side of The Gateway Community Center.

What you can do

1. Contact the county commissioners and library trustees. If you have relationships with them, please talk to them personally.

2. Send them emails (2-5 sentences is fine) and encourage your friends to send emails, too.

3. Write a brief letter to the editor in support of the ImagineIF Libraries and fiscally responsible decisions.


How to write a quick email

Sending a message to the library trustees and (also called library board members) doesn’t have to take a lot of time or research. Here’s our suggestion on writing a simple email that hits the main points of concern.

  • Tell the commissioners and trustees that you are concerned about decisions that the ImagineIF Library trustees are making regarding funding, the library director, and book challenges.

  • Let them know that you support the First Amendment right to access information and candidates for library director who have the experience to manage the well-loved ImagineIf Library.

  • Tell them you reject censorship in any form.

  • Thank them for their service.

If that’s all the time you have, no problem! Contact information is right here. If you have time to write a more in-depth email, scroll past the contact information for more tips and talking points.


Contact information

County commissioners/administrators

If you have time, please send similar emails to the county administrator and county attorney to tell them that removing books from library is censorship, and that a lawsuit against the county over the First Amendment is a waste of county funds.

Library

  • Email that will reach all library trustees - librarytrustees@imagineiflibraries.org

  • Anti-tax library trustees are Heidi Roedel (chair), Doug Adams, and David Ingram.

  • Experienced trustees are Connie Leistiko and Marsha Sultz


Sending a letter to the editor

You can also write a letter to the editor to show your support for the library! Letters must be 300 words or fewer and include the writer’s first and last name, phone number and address for verification purposes.

Here’s a great letter to the editor with lots of good information!


Tips for writing great emails

DO limit yourself to 1-2 of these talking points. You don’t have to cover everything.

  • DO rephrase any material here in your own words so it doesn’t look like you copied and pasted it.

  • DO share your support for the library, librarians, and staff. They have been through a lot during COVID-19, and this is really hard on them.

  • DO stay positive. Attacking the county commissioners or trustees isn’t going to help. Focus on their actions and communicating the harms and consequences of their actions.

  • DO express your love for the library and the programs it offers. Tell personal stories about how much the library means to you, your children, your family members, etc. Any stories about how amazing the librarians were during the pandemic are great options to highlight!

  • DO hold the county commissioners accountable for appointing unqualified people to be library trustees.

  • DON’T say negative things about the candidate for library director. The trustees and county commissioners will use that as an opening to call people “elitist.” Instead of critiquing the candidate, focus on encouraging the selection of a qualified and experienced director.


Sample talking points

The next library director deserves to be set up for success, and the trustees’ actions aren’t doing that. Without a degree in library science, the current staff is going to have to train her, and that’s not their responsibility. They should be free to look to her for leadership.

  • The library deserves trustees who make ethical and fiscally responsible decisions.

  • We want our important community institutions to run smoothly. All of this controversy is creating unnecessary conflict and could get very expensive.

  • Any attempt to change library policies regarding the addition of books to the collection could open the door to censorship, which could waste county funds with a lawsuit.

  • Our library is a jewel in our community. It deserves to be run by qualified, experienced people who understand what it takes to run a library this size.

  • If library trustees are unclear on their responsibilities to the library, the First Amendment, and library procedures, they should get accurate information from professionals before making decisions or spreading misinformation in the community.

Questions? Please email info@loveliveshereflathead.org!


Cherilyn DeVries