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Board of Trustees

Photo (l-r): Chuck Petras, Bob Bates, Jon Kehne, Becky Dickerson and Teresa Myott.

The WCL Board of Trustees is composed of five members of the community who are appointed by the county commissioners to serve five-year terms. A board member may serve two consecutive terms. Each member serves without compensation. They are:

Teresa Myott is a first grade teacher in the Potlatch School District. She has 27 years of teaching experience in elementary, junior high, and high school settings. Teresa serves as a first responder for the Palouse Emergency Medical Services and a volunteer at Needful Things, the Palouse Community Center thrift store. Her spare time is spent reading, sewing, and crafting. Teresa and her husband Don live in Palouse.

The library has always been a window to the world for Teresa. She serves as a library trustee because of this experience. "I could never really give back enough for all I have been given from books and libraries." 

Bob Bates has operated an insurance office in Colton for more than 25 years. A graduate of WSU with a bachelor and master’s degrees and a veteran of the Vietnam War, Bates was a teacher and coach at Tekoa for seven years and then moved to Colton where he led the Wildcats to a state title win at the Kingdome in 1977. He started his insurance business part-time in 1979 and became a full time agent in 1984. He now offers life insurance, investment and retirement plan services at his office in the former bank building in Colton.
 

Chuck Petras believes libraries are a force for betterment, both personally and economically and joined the library board with a goal of encouraging environments that foster innovation and creativity. Chuck has a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and works as a research engineer at Schweitzer Engineering. He serves as Commissioner for Fire Protection District #3 and lives with his wife between Garfield and Farmington.

Becky Dickerson is a mom, library cardholder and publisher of The Community Current Newspaper in St. John, WA. As an Air Force kid, Becky was stationed with her family throughout the states and Europe, always finding refuge in her local library. This adoration of libraries has stayed with her through adulthood and leads her to her branch library, children in tow twice a week. Becky lives with her husband Todd and three girls near the family farm.

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Library contacts by phone at 397-4366 or 877-733-3375
Kristie Kirkpatrick, Library Director  397-3970, cell 592-7984
Peggy Bryan, Board executive secretary  549-3613, cell 710-7554

The Whitman County Library District was formed in 1945 with the goal of providing service to all residents throughout the vast reaches of our rural county. WCL’s dedicated staff has brought technology and innovation to our library district without sacrificing our most important mission: to provide you with the best and most modern library services possible. Fourteen branch libraries provide quality services to over 10,000 cardholders. Residents can access the library twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week through our website, place book orders on-line and have them delivered to their front door or the nearest community library.

Hundreds of children regularly attend story time and juvenile library programs. Thanks to a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation we provide much-improved Internet access and computing to over 400 customers each week. We do all of this at great value to Whitman County taxpayers. Our continued goal is to serve our citizens and communities with this bold approach to rural library services and a resolute sense of stewardship.
-Rebecca Dickerson, Trustee, Whitman County Library

Most recent previous board members

Jon Kehne 2003-2012
John Aune 1998-2011
Leslee Miller 2001-2010
Linda Fletcher 2001-2005
Ronald B. Webster 1997–2002
Anna-Maria Shannon 1999-2002
Dennis Ulrey 1998-2001
Mary Sue Thompson 1990-2000
Bob Wallace 1998-2000
Marilyn Bafus 1988-1998
Dorothy Smith 1991-1998

*Explanation of terms:

A trustee can serve a maximum of 2 terms of 5 yrs each. Filling any part of an un-expired term does not count as a term and can be in addition to the two full terms of service.