Book-Smart, And More

Back in 1975, Sagle native Wayne Gunter took an 11-cent-per-hour pay cut to go to work for the Sandpoint-East Bonner County Library.

“I was originally hired as an assistant to the library director,” Gunter recalled. “I took a cut in pay from the $3 per hour I was earning at Northwest Gas & Go.”

Now, after seven stints as interim director for the East Bonner County Library District, Gunter, 48, has gotten the nod as its full-time director.

In September, he replaced former director James Murray, who resigned last spring. In seeking a new director, the five-member library board credited Gunter’s experience, waiving the usual master’s of library science requirement.

Gunter, who holds a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Idaho, eventually was selected from 27 applicants.

“We had had a lot of oral and written support for Wayne from library patrons, staff and the general community,” board member Charlotte Hoyer said.

“It was a unanimous decision that we had spent enough time looking elsewhere and needed to get on with our plans.”

Hoyer views Gunter’s longtime service and familiarity with the community as a plus.

“He knows the community well and is well-liked by the public,” she said. “Wayne has many excellent ideas and is a strong supporter of extended services.”

The library staff supports Gunter’s selection because of his methodical, fair and friendly approach to daily challenges.

“He has been the one every director has depended on to provide the budget figures and attend to financial details,” colleague Gloria Ray said. “He also knows how to do a lot of basic fix-it tasks, which is a very valuable asset.”

Gunter’s Bonner County roots run deep. He and wife Colleen have reared four children in the home built by his grandfather in 1927. As a student at Sagle Elementary School, he remembers the library being in the principal’s office.

“The books were for viewing mostly by disruptive students who were getting their backsides warmed by a paddle,” Gunter recalled.

During his younger days, Sandpoint’s public library was a single room collection located above City Hall.

Times have changed. In 1968, the library moved to the former post office, and in 1974 the library district was created. Gunter views libraries differently these days.

He sees the library as a friend and leader into the Information Age.

“It’s an important agent for unifying people of diverse views into a healthy, growing community,” he said. “It’s one of few remaining bastions of guaranteed intellectual freedom for people of all ages.”

He looks forward to “pampering” library patrons from throughout the district. Plans call for more extended services such as a bookmobile, materials by mail, continued outreach services for the homebound and satellite libraries staffed once a week in schools or community centers.

Gunter has delegated most of his former duties among the staff but plans to stick with selecting the audio-visual collection.

“I’ve lived, breathed and thought a lot about music,” he said. “I’m in love with audio-visual materials.”

The new director also remains committed to seeking public financing for construction of a new central facility in Sandpoint and for addressing other district facilities’ needs.

“No one other than the people in Clark Fork has ever built a building designed as a library,” Gunter said, explaining that the Sandpoint community instead has adapted space in the abandoned Federal Building.

“After 30 years, the library has outgrown the structure, and it really is time to invest in a new central facility.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo