A public outcry that started almost two years ago over a Pride Month display in the Macon County Public Library has manifested into an effort by at least one commissioner to break away from the 79-year-old Fontana Regional Library System.
“For those of you who have stated about pulling out of the Fontana Regional [Library] System, believe me, I’m completely on board with that,” Commissioner Danny Antoine said during the March 14 Board of Commissioners meeting. “It’s not a simple process, it’s a hard process that we’re definitely working super hard trying to do this the best way.”
The Fontana Regional Library system is comprised of six libraries in Macon, Jackson and Swain counties. This includes the Macon County Public Library in Franklin, the Hudson Library in Highlands and the Nantahala Community Library in the Nantahala community. The system first formed in 1944.
The potential divestment comes in response to some library patrons saying the FRL system is not listening to their requests to review, label or keep books with sexual themes out of the young adults/teen section of the library.
When reached on March 15, the day after the meeting, FRL Regional Librarian Tracy Fitzmaurice said she hopes Macon County remains with the library system.
“Well, I hope it doesn’t happen simply because Macon County would lose a lot of services,” Fitzmaurice said.
Divestment of Macon County from the Fontana Regional Library system could mean additional costs for Macon County to replenish at least two libraries.
One of the frequent public speakers, Jim Gaston, spoke at the commissioners meeting March 14. Gaston implored the commissioners to break away from the FRL, saying Macon is large enough to sustain its own system and that FRL hasn’t prioritized salary raises to give employees a living wage. Gaston also said Macon County money is being used to pay for library services in other counties.
“The county owns the [Macon County Public Library] building, nothing inside of it,” Fitzmaurice said. The Hudson Library facility in Highlands is owned by Hudson Library, Inc. a private nonprofit corporation, and the Nantahala Community Library facility is owned by Macon County.
Fitzmaurice said there’s been no notice from Macon County about leaving the FRL system.
At the March 14 meeting, Antoine said he’s aiming for Macon County to leave the FRL “for the kids,” adding there are pornographic books available. Antoine and other speakers have said that books with sexual content geared for teen or young adult audiences is akin to providing pornography to kids and thus, a form of pedophilia.
The issue stems from several people complaining about a Pride Month display at the Macon County Public Library in June 2021 and their subsequent pleas to either label or remove certain books they feel are harmful to children. Some of the frequent public speakers have consistently denied they want books banned and say all they want is a label or separate section for certain books; however, others have wanted books they object to removed.
“I know these gentlemen up here are definitely on board with the fact that these books are completely unacceptable to kids,” Antoine said, gesturing to the other commissioners. Antoine did not specifically indicate whether any of the other commissioners were on board with divesting Macon County’s libraries from the FRL system.
Another public commentor, Stephanie McGaha, requested “great sensitivity toward youth vulnerability in our library.” Deni Shepard spoke against any governmental system being involved in any sexual education, specifically speaking against LGBTQ materials being on display. Shepard said allowing these materials could lead to questions about allowing material about bestiality and incest.
Another speaker, Wendy McGaha, brought up a copy of “Flamer,” a 2020 semi-autobiographical graphic novel by Mike Curato, and said it was “very concerning” that it was in the teen section.
“Flamer” is a story of a queer, bi-racial 14-year-old who is struggles with his identity while other Boy Scout campers act homophobic. “Flamer” has been one of several LGBTQIA books targeted by proponents of removing or limiting its visibility due to its illustrations, saying it’s not appropriate for the teen/young adult audience the book is intended for.
McGaha said any kid could get a library card and check out materials like “Flamer.” According to Fontana Regional Library policy, kids under the age of 16 need their parents’ permission to get a public library card.
Antoine was also upset that FRL won’t separate books he feels are pornographic into an adult section where kids cannot access them and feels like that’s part of a broader agenda that he called “perverted.”
“If I were to hand that same book [“Flamer”] to a child on the street, I’d go to jail,” Antoine said.
While Antoine and others have said that their efforts are not targeting LGBTQIA books and that they would be just as upset about sexual content of a heterosexual nature aimed at teens and young adults, only books with LGBTQIA themes such as “Gender Queer” and “Lawnboy” have been previously called out in Macon County.
Police called to library board meeting
Two hours before the March 14 Board of Commissioners meeting in Franklin, the FRL board of trustees met at the Hudson Library in Highlands.
Antoine and others attended the meeting. However, no public comments were allowed, which angered the crowd. Fitzmaurice said it was a “very disruptive” start of the meeting.
At the commissioners’ meeting later that night, Antoine stated his frustrations and felt the public were silenced at the Fontana Regional Library’s board of trustees meeting earlier in the day in Highlands, saying it was “completely outrageous.”
The disruption ended up with several phone calls to the police, according to Highlands Police Chief Andrea Holland. Macon County Librarian Abby Hardison said the board directed the Hudson librarian to call law enforcement “due to the disruption of the meeting.”
“People were getting boisterous…and some of the staff members raised their concerns,” Holland said. “I came into the building; they were already leaving the board meeting.”
Holland said the members of the public hung out for a while outside before leaving on their own accord.
Fitzmaurice, who took over from the retired Karen Wallace in December, said after consulting with a lawyer none of the regional or individual library board meetings will have public comment in the future.
“We were advised by our attorney that our bylaws do not include public comment,” Fitzmaurice said. “We have been doing [public comment] since June of last year, to try to see if the public comment if they had input, and if we could reach agreement. When we hired an attorney in February, he said we needed to abide by our bylaws.”
The FRL regional board consists of nine appointed members, three from Macon, Swain and Jackson counties each. The Macon County Public Library’s advisory board is also appointed.
Fitzmaurice said instead of public comment at the meeting, the library boards will be accepting correspondence, due in writing by noon on Friday before the following week’s board meeting.
“What’s happening with public comment is that we don’t respond, and we find that it’s disruptive to the meeting and we don’t have enough time to develop a response,” Fitzmaurice said. “We expect correspondence on noon Friday before meeting so we can issue a response. We hope this would be much more of a focused way to communicate.”