The Macon County Board of Commissioners discussed at its Nov. 13 meeting a proposal by the Jackson County commissioners to alter the Fontana Regional Library’s Inter-Local Agreement. The Jackson board voted to exit the FRL in June.
The first proposed amendment would require at least one Macon, Jackson and Swain County Commissioner be appointed to the FRL Board of Trustees. The second would prevent the regional director from also being a library director for a county library.
Currently, Tracy Fitzmaurice, the Jackson County librarian also serves as the FRL’s regional director. Prior to that Franklin’s former librarian Karen Wallace served as the regional director. Bill McGaha, chair of the FRL regional board, said the library system once had a dedicated director but shifted to using a county librarian as a financial decision.
The third proposal would require unspent FRL funds to be distributed to the counties which allocated the funds after completion of an audit.
Macon County Commissioner Danny Antoine said he was concerned about the frequency of FRL meetings coinciding with county board meetings and suggested moving the dates of meetings around. Commissioner John Shearl suggested the commissioners appointed to the FRL board be allowed to rotate to make it easier for the meetings to be regularly attended.
The board did not vote on the proposal.
The proposed changes can be viewed on the Fontana Regional Library website (fontanalib.org/about-us). The FRL is expected to discuss, and possibly vote, on the proposed change at its Jan. 13, 2026, meeting.