By a 9-0 vote, the Fontana Regional Library’s Board of Trustees passed the renewed inter-local agreement during its Tuesday, Sept. 10, meeting at the Nantahala Community Library, meaning three of the four entities that need to approve have done so.
Board Chair Margaret Carlton said working on the inter-local agreement started to move forward when everyone got together and walked through it in recent months.
The biggest changes in the inter-local agreement would be establishing verbal public comment procedures, mandating FRL board meetings, budgets and audits be made public, and putting FRL board appointment powers in the hands of county commissioners.
Currently, county library boards appoint FRL board members from within. Each county gets three representatives on the FRL board, and under the new inter-local agreement, each county library board can make recommendations to the commissioners. Critics have said that since the county library board members are already commissioner appointees, letting them appoint FRL board members is redundant.
On Aug. 20, the Swain and Jackson County commissioners unanimously approved the inter-local agreement for their counties. The Swain commissioners approved the agreement with no comment by board members. The Jackson County commissioners unanimously approved the inter-local agreement and praised the document.
When other FRL board members asked how Macon County would receive this agreement, Carlton said the last communication they received was that Macon County “would take it under consideration.”
Macon County, which pushed for the updated inter-local agreement over a year ago, has yet to talk about the FRL agreement. Macon County was where the controversy over books and their availability to children evolved from controversy over an LGBTQ+ display during Pride Month several years ago.
Numerous Macon County residents pushed for leaving the Fontana Regional Library System, saying their concerns over what they felt was sexually graphic content in children’s books were ignored.
At an April 2023 commissioners meeting multiple people on both sides of the issue spoke. After a closed session, the Macon County Board of Commissioners read a statement in support of FRL but asked for changes.
Following up after the meeting, Fitzmaurice said in July 2023 the Jackson, Swain and Macon County managers wrote a letter to the commissioners with one change. However, the agreement didn’t come back up until November 2023 when the Macon County Commissioners approved their own version.
The November 2023 version proposed by Macon County has several differences from the current version. A clause that was in the Macon version, but not included in the approved version, stated commissioners could remove one of their county’s library trustees through a majority vote if they feel they’ve failed to abide by the library’s bylaws.
Another was that disagreements should be decided by a committee of two commissioners from each county, then by legal counsels and then by the FRL trustees last. The current version changes that to two commissioners from each county and the FRL trustees together, then legal counsel.
Another change that Macon County added that hasn’t survived the revisions is adding “in a socially and politically neutral matter” to the purpose statement. The Macon County Public Library Board of Trustees recommended the phrase in an October 2023 split vote.
Several Macon County revisions did remain, mostly changes in favor of transparency so that meetings, budgets and audits would be made available.
In April of this year, the Jackson County Commissioners pushed the creation of a new inter-local agreement. After an initial meeting between select county commissioners, county managers and attorneys on May 29, Jackson County attorney John Kubis came up with the current document.
At the Aug. 20 Jackson County Commissioners’ meeting, Kubis said the process of working with Macon, Swain and FRL “broke down” and they primarily worked with Swain and FRL afterward. Kubis did not elaborate and did not return a request to comment.
Kubis said Jackson County wanted the document to be enforceable while keeping with the spirit of the agreement. Jackson commissioners addressed concerns about how they would have the power to appoint members and “may select from the recommendations made by the county library board.”
After the FRL’s inter-local agreement vote on Sept. 10, Carlton said some of the changes would require complementary FRL bylaw changes. Fitzmaurice said the recommended bylaws would “tighten up” the rules and mirror the inter-local agreement. The bylaws were for presentation and discussion, with possible action at a future meeting. Carlton said if Macon County approves the inter-local agreement, then the FRL board can vote on its bylaw changes at its November meeting.
Book vote
The board voted 8-1, with Lori Richards of Swain against, in favor of Macon County librarian Abby Hardison’s decision not to move “Pip: The Story of Olive” by Kim Kane. Kara Aldous requested a review of whether the book was appropriate, saying the book was “irrelevant” and wasn’t a children’s book. Vice Chair Cynthia Womble said if the book is irrelevant, it won’t be checked out.
Public comments
This was the first meeting with verbal public comment under rules the FRL board approved in July. Four people signed up to speak. Heather Johnson from Otto spoke in favor of the library, against dissolving the FRL and said if people fear their kid isn’t ready to read certain books, don’t leave them unattended in the library. She wanted to make sure “bigotry and government overreach is checked.”
Jacob Bishop said some folks want to alter how the library works and don’t think it’s fair to the people who have put a lot of work into FRL.
Kathy Smith said there’s an unfair perception about one side allegedly banning books and talked about how the group “Gays against Groomers” is against certain books in the library.
Jim Gaston said the FRL “went political” with the American Libraries Association and that governments are wise to eliminate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) “propaganda” and encouraged the board to approve the Jackson and Swain changes.
Banned book displays
After acknowledging a written comment against banned book displays by the same Kathy Smith who spoke, Richards made a motion to remove any banned book displays, saying if the books are on display, it’s an oxymoron and defeats the purpose.
September is Banned/Challenged Book Month, where libraries highlight books that have been banned elsewhere in the past for a myriad of reasons. Richards said there were displays last year in Swain, although Fitzmaurice said there weren’t in Macon and Jackson counties.
The motion died for a lack of a second. Carton said as regional board members, they have to be careful in where they draw the line in strategic and operating issues.
Correction
In the Aug. 14 story titled “Library appoints two new regional board members,” it was reported that Macon County Public Library Board of Trustees member Bill Dyar said that prior FRL board appointments came from a nominating committee. What Dyar said was the opposite, in that those FRL appointments did not come from a nominating committee.