Members of the Board

Colleen Blaylock, Secretary

Colleen was born on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, and is an enrolled member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribe. She is the eldest of six children and the daughter of Lillian Vallely. Growing up on the reservation she attended Fort Hall Elementary School and Blackfoot Middle School. After attending Blackfoot High for one year, she was accepted at St. Mary’s Episcopal School for Native American girls in Springfield, South Dakota, where she completed her high school education. Upon graduating from St. Mary’s in 1960, she was accepted into the business program at the Rockford School of Business in Rockford, Illinois. While pursuing her Associate of Arts degree, she was employed part-time with the Rockford Public Library. After completing her degree she was fortunate to be offered a full-time position and remained with the Rockford Public Library for fourteen years. In 1976 her husband, Kent, was admitted to a degree program at Arizona State University, and they left Rockford (and the snow and coldweather) behind to move to the Phoenix metropolitan area. After working for four years as an account coordinator for the Jennings and Thompson Advertising Agency, she returned to the world of books accepting a position with the Tempe Public Library. She remained with the library for 29 years driving the bookmobile and working in the children’s center, periodicals, and the computer access center. In 2009 she retired and became a lady of “do what makes you happy”. She currently lives in Tempe, Arizona with her husband of 40 years. She has a son, James Vinci, who lives in Temecula, California with his family. They are proud grandparents of, Ryan (age 17), and Brinley (age 15). In 2000 she was appointed to the Lillian Vallely School Board of Directors, and has served as the Board Secretary since 2002.