BONNERS FERRY, Idaho - The director of the Boundary County Library announced her resignation Tuesday citing a "political atmosphere of extremism, militant Christian fundamentalism, intimidation tactics, and threatening behavior currently being employed in the community."
Kimber Glidden thanked the library's board of trustees in a post on the library's Facebook page saying she had been a good fit for the job but was not prepared to take on the ideals in the community.
Glidden said that the library does not have any sexually explicit materials in the children's section or "titles being circulated to generate fear and hate" in a contribution to the Bonners Ferry Herald.
Those statements appear to be in reference to the "Boundary County Library Board Recall," a group that claims its mission is to "protect children from explicit materials and grooming."
The group was calling for the recall of board members Lee Colson, Wendy McClinton, Bob Bradform and Ken Blockham Jr. after they voted not to allow the potential disapproval from community members to affect their selection of books for the library's collection.
Soon-to-be ex-director Glidden said the library does not have the books this group is referring to, and that the narrative was "crafted and executed to incite a group of people to act against their own experience and judgment, or worse to act within narrow self-interest."
Glidden's resignation will be effective on September 10, 2022.
