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2023 A Look Back: Survivor Award

2023 A Look Back: Survivor Award

This award goes out to the Fontana Regional Library, which, despite consistent attacks throughout 2023, is still standing, and continues to serve the residents of Jackson, Macon and Swain counties. 

The blows started early in the calendar year when a hoard of Macon residents launched complaints about the presence of literature with LGBTQ+ content and themes in the Macon County Library. These complaints eventually led to some residents and commissioners alike calling for withdrawal from the FRL system.

One commissioner even claimed, “pornographic books are being distributed to kids through the library.” 

news 2023

And while county commissions are recommending changes to the FRL bylaws, the library system made it out of this difficult year alive. For now, libraries in all three counties will continue to be a place where residents of all walks of life can go to access vital information, use technological resources and explore the world through literature.

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