python pip may not be installed correctly

Question

I'm not entirely confident I have pip installed correctly, because it is in my \Scripts folder, but when I try to use pip to install a library, it says pip is not installed correctly.

To make sure I have python installed, I used the following:

M:\M\embedPy_windows-1.5.0>where python
C:\Users\a623\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\python.exe
C:\Users\a623\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\python.exe
C:\Users\a623\AppData\Local\Programs\Spyder\Python\python.exe

In my C:\Users\a623\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\Scripts folder, I have the following libraries installed:

normalizer.exe
pip.exe
ppip3.9.exe
pip3.10.exe
pip3.exe
wheel.exe

I also added this folder to the Path variable in Environment Variables: C:\Users\a623\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\Scripts
C:\Users\a623\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39
...

My PYTHONPATH variable looks like this: C:\Users\a623\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\Lib

My PYTHON_HOME variable looks like this: C:\Users\a623\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39

I think I have my environment set up correctly, however, when I try to run a script, I get an error that a library is missing, and then when I try to install the library, it looks like it's already installed:

'libpython
  [5]  M:\M\embedPy_windows-1.5.0\p.q:14:
 .P.env:not H~P;
 .p:(`:./p 2:(`init;3))[L;H;B]]
    ^

M:\M\embedPy_windows-1.5.0>python -m pip install libpython
Requirement already satisfied: libpython in c:\users\a623\appdata\local\programs\python\python39\lib\site-packages (0.2)
Requirement already satisfied: requests in c:\users\a623\appdata\local\programs\python\python39\lib\site-packages (from libpython) (2.31.0)
Requirement already satisfied: idna<4,>=2.5 in c:\users\a623\appdata\local\programs\python\python39\lib\site-packages (from requests->libpython) (3.6)
Requirement already satisfied: urllib3<3,>=1.21.1 in c:\users\a623\appdata\local\programs\python\python39\lib\site-packages (from requests->libpython) (2.2.1)
Requirement already satisfied: charset-normalizer<4,>=2 in c:\users\a623\appdata\local\programs\python\python39\lib\site-packages (from requests->libpython) (3.3.2)
Requirement already satisfied: certifi>=2017.4.17 in c:\users\a623\appdata\local\programs\python\python39\lib\site-packages (from requests->libpython) (2024.2.2)
WARNING: You are using pip version 21.1.3; however, version 24.0 is available.
You should consider upgrading via the 'C:\Users\a623\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\python.exe -m pip install --upgrade pip' command.

I'm a little lost on what to do, does anyone have any suggestions as to what to do?