The Fontana Regional Library Board of Trustees approved its new budget Monday, but left a controversial new collection development policy for future boards to discuss.
Dozens of community members filed into the meeting room at the Macon County Public Library on June 22 to give their comments on and hear the board discuss its new collection development policy, which was ultimately removed from the agenda by a unanimous vote from trustees. The board also approved its new 2026-27 budget and approved a new set of bylaws for trustees.
Jackson County trustee Debroah Smith started the meeting by moving to remove the collection development policy from the agenda, saying she believed it was a good policy but wanted to respect the wishes of the counties set to remain in the FRL.
Smith also rebuffed questions she said she received from community members alleging the policy is unconstitutional, discriminatory, censorious and unnecessary. She said the policy has been in the works for over a year, and Jackson County trustees are not interested in enforcing their opinions over the board.
“Finally, some of them say that the board wants to push our ideology on others. We have consistently, most of us, advocated for neutrality,” Smith said. “If the ideology of the past few years that was imposed on our library respected the rights of those with whom they disagreed, we would not be where we are today.”
Following a unanimous vote to remove the item from the agenda, Swain County trustee Tony Monnat moved to also remove amendments to the bylaws from the agenda, saying they should be decided on by trustees from the remaining counties without Jackson County present. Board chair and Macon County Trustee Bill McGaha said the policy changes came from the board’s attorney, who McGaha said found the bylaws to be lacking in indemnity and ethics provisions. The board later approved the new policies 6-2, with Monnat and Swain County trustee Cynthia Womble opposed.
Public Comments
10 participants stepped up, mostly to discuss the collection development policy. Pushing back against Smith’s comments, Amy Medlock, Constance Neely and Heather Johnson all said the proposed policy contained violations of first amendment freedoms. Peggy Salay said she had seen the “misguided agenda” of trustees.
Other speakers including Lisa Walker and Ellen Snodgrass urged trustees to avoid voting on all policy matters until Jackson County had finished exiting the FRL or until the Macon County Board of Commissioners followed through or backed off its decision to withdraw from the FRL.
Jim Gaston alone praised the proposed collection development policy, which he said is more inclusive than the current policy for replacing a nondiscrimination clause against “ethnicity, nationality, religion, age, disability, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or political views” with a clause reading, “The FRL welcomes all patrons with courtesy and respect, without exception.”
Referring to a temporary restraining order sought by Swain County against the FRL to prevent it from distributing funds against the terms of its interlocal agreement, Gaston said Swain County “is trying to gain a share of funds that are not theirs. That’s called theft.”
Other items
Trustees approved a version of the 2026-27 budget that does not include some requested funding from Macon County. Though $1.6 million was requested as a county contribution to help account for cost increases stemming from Jackson County’s withdrawal, Macon County approved only $1.2 million in its final budget. McGaha said the system would likely be able to pull through, but the “real hurt” comes from not being able to afford cost of living adjustments or pay increases for headquarters employees, which cannot be funded without county contributions.
McGaha was also appointed officially as the FRL’s interim director, a position he filled by default before. McGaha and Womble both said this would allow the FRL to retain a point of contact with the state, protect it from liability when signing certain documents and ensure a supervisory role for employees.
Womble, who sits on the FRL’s personnel committee, said the committee had been looking for an interim director to fill the role, but the search has been exacerbated by Macon County’s decision to withdraw.
“It’s become almost impossible to hire someone as interim director now, or rather to recruit some to even apply for the interim director position who meets the qualifications required by the state” Womble said. She said appointing McGaha was “the best option right now.”
McGaha was appointed 7-1, with Tony Monnat opposed.
Womble, along with Jackson County trustees Smith, Lori Richards and Marva Jennings were all celebrated with certificates and Womble with flowers for attending their final FRL meeting as trustees. Womble will no longer serve on the board and will be replaced by Justin Greene of Swain County.
Reporter Shelby Powell can be reached at reporter@thefranklinpress.com.