The Macon County Public Library Board of Trustees’ June meeting saw a discussion of summer programs, conversations about staff training and a measure to request guidance on how to best comply with state law.
During the June 3 meeting, trustee Leah Gaston took a moment to respond to a public comment submitted to the trustees from Natalie Alison. The comment discussed an email sent from Gaston’s email address advocating for withdrawal from the Fontana Regional Library (FRL). Alison requested answers on why Gaston has been allowed to retain her position as a trustee when allowing her email to be used for such a purpose and why the board has not addressed the controversy surrounding the email or apologized for it having been sent. The comment also called for Gaston’s dismissal.
“As a patron of the library, I am appalled that this board member is allowed to continue in her position,” Alison said. “Our board should be composed of people who want the best for the library for all of its patrons, not just those that line up with her [or] her husband politically [or] religiously. A board member who is actively trying to take the library apart is not a board member that is fulfilling her duty.”
In response, Gaston said, “An email was sent to an unintended recipient. In this email, two individuals, neither being county commissioners nor holding public office, were having a conversation about their personal views. I did not write this email, however there was a plethora of disinformation surrounding this email perpetrated by those who disagreed with the content. There was nothing illegal suggested in this email.”
“Asking hard questions and pointing out inconvenient truths is the responsibility of all trustees, rather than simply rubber-stamping the FRL, no questions asked,” Gaston continued. “More direct questions should be asked of the FRL, such as ‘How is the FRL cutting spending of non-essentials to improve staff salaries?’ Or, ‘Why is the FRL director drawing two salaries while delegating many responsibilities to other staff members?’”
“We as trustees need to have more conversations in our meetings about why other North Carolina counties are leaving regional systems and becoming their own, independent county libraries the way most libraries across America operate. Many patrons would like to explore the possibility of becoming a county library governed by county managers who are financially qualified and accountable to taxpayers,” Gaston said.
Macon County commissioners have repeatedly stated over the course of multiple meetings that they have no intention of withdrawing from the FRL.
In seeking answers to Gaston’s other questions, the Press reached out to FRL Director Tracy Fitzmaurice. According to her, the FRL’s regional director’s duties have been filled by a local library director since 2006, when state funding cuts resulted in the regional director abdicating the position and a Macon County librarian stepping up to fill both roles.
Fitzmaurice, who also serves as the Jackson County librarian, currently receives a regional salary of about $28,000 to supplement her preexisting Jackson salary as compensation for various financial duties like signing off on audits and applying for aid. Fitzmaurice said these duties are required by law, and a dedicated regional director at a comparable library system would likely draw a salary of between $80,000 and $100,000.
Library staff salaries are determined at the county level, Fitzmaurice said, with librarians approaching the county with budget requests. FRL programs, on the other hand, are funded primarily through grants and donations. If counties fail to provide required resources to raise staff salaries, librarians would likely have to make difficult decisions regarding staff pay and the number of books they are able to buy each year. The 2025 operating budget proposal shows about $1.1 million of the $1.2 million in county funds being spent on personnel costs for the three libraries in Macon County.
Question about staff training
Trustee Diann Catlin addressed Fitzmaurice with concerns about the system’s annual in-service training event, which gave library staff training on stress management, employee benefits and the region’s updated Juvenile Limited Library Card policy.
Catlin expressed concerns about the event’s speaker, Emma Churchman, who offered training on stress management. Catlin wanted to know if Fitzmaurice had approached library staff ahead of time to ensure no staff members’ religious beliefs would interfere with their ability to attend the training due to the speaker’s spiritual beliefs.
“There could be some people in your employ who are not technically allowed to be around people like that to get advice from them,” Catlin said. “It seems to me that if there were a person who was a staff member who had religious objections to this kind of speaker, it might be something you would think about … I would not have been able to attend that.”
“We had her whole lesson plan, and there was nothing brought up,” Fitzmaurice said. “They were there to teach about trauma training and resilience and that’s what they did.”
Request to FRL
A motion from Kathy Smith would send a written request to the FRL board requesting it provide guidance on how to ensure Macon libraries are compliant with North Carolina Senate Bill 49 from 2023 and Executive Order #14238 from March. Senate Bill 49, titled “Parents’ Bill of Rights,” outlines the different authorities the state believes should be afforded to parents, including to direct their children’s education and religious upbringing, to access all state education records of children and to make all healthcare decisions for children. The executive order directs the reduction or closure of seven federal organizations including the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which develops policy, programs and awards grants to local museums and libraries across the nation.
Though neither the law nor the executive order appears to affect public libraries directly, Smith said the goal was to ensure both county governments and county libraries’ continued eligibility for various state and federal grant funding.
The overture would be designed to encourage the FRL board to continue working on circulation policies that would enable member libraries to come into compliance with the state and federal government, specifically regarding the library’s student access cards, which some trustees are concerned may not be in full compliance with such laws. The measure was approved and the overture was sent ahead.
Librarian report
Macon County Librarian Abby Hardison gave a report highlighting past and upcoming programs and activities taking place in or organized by county libraries and within the library system.
Hardison noted that the Digital Navigators computer literacy workshop series has been seeing a wider range of interested patrons looking for advice on a variety of computer topics, both novice and advanced. One standout question was a Nantahala woman who wanted a stronger computer to interface with her embroidery machine.
Hardison said the American Heart Foundation would be providing funding for defibrillators for both the Macon County Public Library and Nantahala Community Library. Hudson Public Library already has one, Hardison said.
On April 3 and 24, The Kitchen Literacy Connection taught kids simple, healthy recipes for hummus and granola. Library staff and the Macon County Food Council posted recipe tutorials to the Fontana Regional Library’s YouTube channel.
A handful of youth science programs have taken place in early June for the MCPL’s “Color our World” program, with biologists and entomologists discussing natural camouflage and colorful insects on June 4 and 5, and additional programs on colorful fish coming from Mainspring Conservation Trust June 11 and colorful rocks with the Gem and Mineral Society June 18.
In partnership with Macon County Schools, the Franklin library will provide free lunches for students Monday-Friday, through Aug. 1. Hardison said the library distributed more than 2,000 lunches through the program in 2024.
Board Chair Justin Bohner said, “I think it’s important just to point out, it was brought to my attention during COVID that one in four school-age children is food-insecure, meaning that they don’t know where their next meal is going to come from … they realized a lot of these kids aren’t eating from Friday afternoon to Monday morning. It’s a really big deal that the school is able to provide lunches for people, and that they’re able to provide a place for people to have those lunches.”
At the popular Bubble Foam Party held at MCPL on June 19, the Friends of the Library will be adding an extra bubble cannon “to provide increased bubble foam capacity,” Hardison said.
Trustees report
According to a report from Trustee Marsha Moxley, the Hudson Library changed its board’s name to the Hudson Library Foundation to make it easier for people to identify where to give donations. The foundation has recently started a capital campaign for renovations, which will cover, among other things, additional meeting spaces, outdoor spaces and a teen space.
The library board of trustees is awaiting a new appointment from the Macon County Board of Commissioners to replace the recently resigned Kay Rowland. Appointments to the Macon County and Fontana Regional Library Boards were scheduled to take place at the June 10 Board of Commissioners meeting.
The next Macon County Public Library Board of Trustees meeting will be Tuesday, Aug. 5 at Hudson Library in Highlands. The Fontana Regional Library board meets Tuesday, July 8 at the Nantahala Community Library in Topton.