An Eagle woman has taken credit for successfully petitioning public library trustees to relocate 23 books that she deemed “harmful” to minors. 

Angela Russell on July 24 filed the notices calling on the Eagle Public Library’s board of trustees to move nearly two dozen books to the library’s adult section. A few of the books have attracted multiple complaints since a new law making libraries liable for civil lawsuits went into effect July 1. However, Russell filed challenges to all of the titles, and trustees agreed on Sept. 18 to relocate them. 

Russell claimed ownership of the notices in a social media post the day before the library board’s vote. Russell posted to the neighborhood-focused social networking website Nextdoor seeking support in anticipation of “a lot of backlash” for her requests.

“These books contain sexual activities with minors, nudity, Profanity (sic), racial slurs, sex change operation info, violence, child abuse, alternate gender ideologies,” she wrote. “The list goes on forever.”

Eagle trustees reviewed Russell’s list of “harmful” books in a closed-door meeting. And the city of Eagle, which oversees the public library, has declined to identify her or the handful of other people who challenged books prior to the September library board meeting.

Angela Russell and her husband Blane Russell have political ties to at least two officials who provide oversight to the public library and financial ties to the city of Eagle, Idaho Education News found through public records.

Social Eyes Marketing, a Boise-based company operated by Blane Russell, is paid by the city to provide digital media services, according to City Council records and receipts. The Eagle City Council last year approved up to $40,000 in expenditures for the company’s services. 

Campaign finance reports show that Social Eyes Marketing has produced political advertisements for a raft of conservative candidates in recent years, including a current Eagle City Council member and a former Eagle mayor as well as Idaho lawmakers who supported enacting new penalties for libraries this year. The company has collected roughly $169,000 since 2020 for the campaign work, according to public disclosures.

EdNews sent messages to Angela Russell and to Social Eyes Marketing seeking comment for this story but did not receive a response.

To read EdNews’ initial story on the book relocations, which includes a full list of the titles, click here. 

Library trustee says he’s ‘acquainted’ with Russells

Angela and Blane Russell also are active members in the Republican Party’s District 14 committee, which is chaired by Eagle library trustee Brian Almon.

Almon was one of three library trustees who supported the book relocations that Angela Russell requested under the Children’s School and Library Protection Act.

In a 3-1 vote in September, Eagle trustees concurred with Russell’s claim that the 23 challenged books were “harmful.” The library board moved 20 books to the adult section and placed another three behind the library desk, where patrons must now request them.

Former trustees Sarah Hayes and Kelsey Taylor also supported relocating the books on Russell’s list. BoiseDev reported Tuesday that the Eagle City Council voted on Oct. 8 to remove Hayes and Taylor from the library board, without explanation.

Almon, in public statements after the library board’s decision, said he couldn’t share details about the trustees’ private deliberations. When asked about his political ties to Angela and Blane Russell Thursday, Almon said he’s “acquainted” with the couple and they “travel in the same circles.”

Angela and Blane Russell were alternate delegates to the Idaho Republican State Convention this year in Coeur d’Alene, Almon said, and Blane is currently an alternate precinct committeeman in District 14.

“My acquaintance or non-acquaintance with anyone who potentially submitted relocation requests did not influence my vote in the September meeting,” Almon said by email. “The Eagle Library Board has discretion to relocate books within the library, and I believe all trustees took each book under consideration on its own merits.”

Almon also said that he has “never personally engaged in a business relationship” with Social Eyes Marketing.

Marketing company produces ads for city, political candidates

Blane Russell is identified as the founder and managing partner of Social Eyes Marketing on the company’s website and in previous media coverage. A LinkedIn profile for Angela Russell identifies her as an owner. Both Blane and Angela Russell are registered agents for the company in its most recent annual report filed with the Idaho Secretary of State.

The company provides digital media services, including social media advertising and event promotions, to the city of Eagle, according to a presentation that Blane Russell gave the City Council on July 10.

Eagle City Council members in 2023 approved two expenditures of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay Social Eyes Marketing up to $40,000.

The marketing firm has also produced campaign advertising for an array of conservative political candidates and committees, according to campaign finance disclosures filed with the Idaho Secretary of State and the Federal Election Commission.

Eagle City Councilwoman Mary May’s campaign gave Social Eyes Marketing $4,629 in 2023, according to the disclosures. May told EdNews Thursday that the company produced videos and ad placements for her campaign, but she said she has “no ongoing relationship” with the firm. 

She also noted that the city’s digital media agreement with Social Eyes Marketing pre-dated her council tenure. And she’s not aware of any influence the council had over the recent book relocations.

“I had no involvement and I am not aware of any City Council involvement in the discussions or deliberations surrounding the complaints or the placement of books,” May said by email. “That was the purview of the Library Board.”

Angela and Blane Russell hosted a campaign event for May and other Eagle candidates, including City Councilman Craig Kvamme and former Eagle mayor Jason Pierce, on Sept. 27, 2023. Pierce’s campaign paid the company $2,000 during his failed reelection bid last year. Campaign finance data doesn’t show any expenditures between Kvamme and Social Eyes Marketing. 

A flyer for last year’s candidate meet-and-greet advertised former Idaho solicitor general Theo Wold as a “guest speaker,” and Idaho Republican Party Chairwoman Dorothy Moon as a “special guest.”

Altogether, Social Eyes Marketing has collected roughly $169,000 since 2020 for its work on campaigns in local, state and federal elections, according to campaign finance data from the Idaho Secretary of State and Federal Election Commission.

The company earned $75,000 for ads that supported Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) board member Bryan Smith’s 2022 congressional campaign and attacked his opponent, Rep. Mike Simpson, according to FEC filings. 

IFF is a hardline conservative think tank that has pushed lawmakers in recent years to enact penalties for libraries that expose children to sexual content and LGBTQ+ themes.

Almon worked as a lobbyist for the group in 2023. According to public disclosures filed with the Secretary of State, Almon lobbied on House Bill 314, a precursor to the current library policy that included a stiffer fine of $2,500. Idaho Gov. Brad Little vetoed the legislation, arguing it could create a “bounty system” that bankrupts small libraries. The Republican governor this year signed the followup legislation, House Bill 710.

Disclosures show that Social Eyes Marketing also produced campaign material for Reps. Josh Tanner and Ted Hill, Republicans from Eagle, and Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld, R-Twin Falls, as well as the Idaho Freedom Caucus PAC, a group of hardline conservative lawmakers that frequently receives high marks in IFF’s legislator grades.

Zuiderveld and Tanner both supported House Bill 710. Hill was absent for the votes on HB 710, but two different substitutes supported an original version of the bill along with an amended version. 

Questions about relocation decisions remain unanswered

Key details about Eagle’s handling of the book relocations remain hazy, and city and library board officials haven’t provided clarity more than a month after the initial decision.

The city’s justification for protecting the privacy of book challengers, for instance, assumes that they used Eagle Public Library items. But EdNews previously reported that library circulation records show a pair of titles haven’t been checked out in at least two years, and the city officials haven’t clarified how a longstanding privacy law that protects library users applies in this case.

National reporting on library book challenges shows they tend to come in the form of lists, not from a child or parent picking an objectionable book from the shelf.

Additionally, library officials appeared to consider book challenges without confirming whether they came from parents or guardians of minors exposed to the material. While not a requirement for filing relocation notices, parental status is a condition of filing a lawsuit under the “harmful” materials law.

Almon and city attorney Victor Villegas cited potential litigation as justification for the library board reviewing the books behind closed doors. Almon declined to answer whether library trustees verified that Russell is the parent of a minor.

“I can’t speak to anything that was discussed during the executive session at our September meeting,” he said Thursday.

In a Sept. 20 column discussing the book relocations, Almon wrote that “some of the citizens” who submitted notices “did not appear to meet” the criteria for a lawsuit, and “nevertheless we decided to evaluate all of the challenged books.” 

Almon said he didn’t play a role in the city’s decision to shield the identities of people who filed relocation notices. But he criticized reporters Thursday for publicizing information about the book challengers.

EdNews asked Villegas to clarify which city official made the decision to redact the names from public records tied to the relocation notices. He did not respond.

Eagle Mayor Brad Pike also did not answer this question, among others related to the transparency of the book relocation decisions.