Fontana Regional Library addresses upcoming issues ahead of split

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Fontana Regional Library addresses upcoming issues ahead of split

The meeting drew enough of a crowd to fill the small room at the Nantahala Community Center, which is attached to the Nantahala Community Library. Kyle Perrotti photo

As the Fontana Regional Library sizes up a monumental change coming into the focus over the hill like a band of Vandals looking to sack Rome, its outgoing attorney, Rady Large, offers a simple piece of advice.

“You guys need to have counsel from a multi-partner firm that is going to be able to possibly field potential lawsuits that could possibly come from all this,” he told the board during its July 8 meeting.

The "all of this” Large referred to is the complicated process the board has now been forced into as it prepares to lose one third of its libraries, including the employees that have operated those institutions for decades.

The FRL board meets six times per year, once at each of its libraries that span Jackson, Macon and Swain counties. The July 8 meeting was at the Nantahala Community Library, the system’s smallest, which serves a community with little to no cell phone access, meaning the services it provides, including free WiFi access, are all the more vital.

THE VOTE TO LEAVE

The meeting was the board’s first since Jackson County Commissioners voted 4-1 late last month to withdraw from the agreement it’d had with the system for the last 81 years. At the June 3 county commission meeting, held at Southwestern Community College, County Manager Kevin King informed the board that the move will cost the county about $300,000 initially and about a half-million per year thereafter.

“… we see that Fontana has policies in place for child safety, for content, for all of the things that we’ve brought up as concerns,” Commission Chair Mark Letson, the lone dissenter, pleaded ahead of the vote.

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“Just from what we’ve gathered initially, it’s going to cost us more in the long run than it will if we remain within Fontana,” he added. “We’ve got some immediate things that are going to have to happen, and it may leave us short-handed at the libraries.”

FRL Chair Cynthia Womble said that while she received the physical, “wet-ink signature” copy of the letter from Jackson County officially notifying the board of its withdrawal from the system on July 2, she’d received a copy via email on June 30. Jackson County has also already notified Macon and Swain, the two other county members of the system, according to Womble.

For FRL, the letter triggers actions that must be taken by both the library system and the county before the split.

“The latest I have read is that Jackson County is exploring hiring a consultant to assist with that process because it will form a new department,” Womble said, adding that FRL Director Tracy Fitzmaurice is playing a key role in making sure nothing is overlooked by either party.

Regional Library Systems across the state were established during a time decades ago when counties didn’t necessarily have enough resources to provide library services, so they created multi-county systems. While counties still provide the funds, the regional library boards handle administrative functions.

FRL was formed in 1944 when the Tennessee Valley Authority sponsored a bookmobile to visit remote areas of Jackson, Macon and Swain counties.

But like with school boards, in recent years, a large movement led by Christian conservatives has challenged local and regional libraries across the nation, accusing them of pushing LGBTQ and other progressive ideologies and offering books that some consider offensive. As the book bans began, so too did the lawsuits.

The ACLU filed a federal suit against the Greenville County Library in South Carolina for removing books, citing systemic discrimination. In Tennessee, plaintiffs are challenging the ban of more than 100 books by a local school board.

Closer to home, residents of Yancey County were prepared to file suit over the county’s withdrawal from its regional library system last year over similar concerns.

PUBLIC PUSHBACK

Ahead of Jackson County’s vote to withdraw, public comments at commissioner meetings reflected an overwhelming desire among residents to see the county stay in library system. At last week’s FRL meeting, Womble noted that board members received 43 emails and handwritten letters, the majority of which voiced support for the library system and/or shock at Jackson County’s decision to withdraw.

Those sentiments were echoed in one sense or another by the four people who addressed the FRL board at the Nantahala Community Library. Some offered praise for Womble’s performance when conducting meetings; others chastised Jackson County commissioners and even some of the members of the library board.

Jackson County resident Tom Downing passionately read a prepared statement. His ultimate point was to elaborate on a relatively simple fear. It’s wasn’t that he’s concerned about banning books now; he’s concerned about freedom dying a slow death in area libraries.

Jackson County resident Tom Downing addressing the board. Kyle Perrotti photo

“I have a feeling that challenging books, which is what was talked about by the Jackson commissioners, based on alleged pornography grounds, is just the beginning with our new members that we have from some of the counties” he said.

Downing said that some board members, whom he referred to as “the morality police,” will simply change policies to stop buying books that don’t conform to their views.

“I think we’re in a world of trouble, madam chair, because you have some zealots on this board right now,” he said.

BUDGETARY CONCERNS

During a discussion on the budget, Womble noted that the upcoming changes require the board to look closely at its own financial future. FRL operates on a tight budget with $4.03 million in revenue against $3.98 million in expenses.

Perhaps the biggest budgetary concern regards personnel, considering salaries, compensation and benefits for its 81 listed employees account for $2.85 million annually.

“That’s very difficult because Jackson County literally has until June 30 (2026) to decide whether they’re going to go through with it, so we can’t let people go ahead of time,” Fitzmaurice told the board. “We can’t just walk in and say, ‘you don’t have a job anymore’ on July 1, so that will be up to the board to figure out the best way to do that.”

The abrupt end of the partnership could create a mass exodus of employees, which puts the board on the hook for paying out a lot of leave and vacation days, as well as potential unemployment for several people, all at once.

Later in the meeting, Fitzmaurice noted that FRL staffers in Jackson County, some of whom have worked for FRL for over 25 years, are “really anxious,” adding that she expects some may look for jobs.

“That will impact service,” Fitzmaurice said.

While Jackson County could hire the current employees to work at its future county-run library system, that isn’t guaranteed; in Yancey County, none of the employees of the AMY (named for Avery, Mitchell and Yancey counties) were kept onboard. An idea was floated that the board could approve some kind of bonus for employees in Jackson County that stick it out until June 30, 2026, but there was hesitation, and the matter was ultimately referred to the personnel committee.

The Nantahala Community Library is the smallest in the Fontana Regional Library System. Kyle Perrotti photo

“That does put a lot of fear and uncertainty in our staff, and I did get an email I sent out to our board after the decision was made asking to continue to give encouragement to our staff because they do work hard for not a lot of money,” Fitzmaurice said.

Another concern that is easier to address is the booking of events at the Jackson County Library in Sylva. According to Fitzmaurice, finding the right performers and musicians is like finding “gold,” and they must be booked about a year in advance, meaning the process has already begun for summer 2026. However, that shouldn’t be too big of a deal since Fitzmaurice, in conjunction with King, is now booking acts with the caveat that the county will have to pay them if it indeed completes its planned withdrawal from FRL.

NEW FACES, NEW COMMITTEES

Only two board members have served the entirety of the last year, Womble and Tony Monnat, who both represent Swain County. Last week’s meeting was the first for board member Cheryl Taylor, of Swain County.

One of the newer members is Marva Jennigs, who was appointed by a unanimous vote of Jackson County Commissioners, including her brother, Commissioner Michael Jennings. Following the July 8 meeting, she confirmed to The Smoky Mountain News that Commissioner Jennings is her brother but that she didn’t think he voted; however, meeting minutes indicate that the commission vote to appoint her was unanimous.

At the July 8 meeting, the board elected new officers. The two most experienced, Womble and Monnat, were appointed Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, and Macon County’s Bill McGaha was voted in as Secretary.

In addition to naming officers, the board established six committees to handle a number of different issues, including items that newer members wanted to tackle, such as amending the ethics statement, the collection development policy and the circulation policy. But this means that board members are all on multiple committees, which can eat up quite a bit of time, and Fitzmaurice must attend all committee meetings.

During the July 8 meeting, Monnat leaned back in his chair and marveled at how many committees have been formed. “I don’t know how you all have so much time,” he said with a chuckle. By the time the vote came around to form the final committee of the night — which will aim to amend the public comment policy — the vote was 8-1 with only Monnat opposing.

In light of all the upcoming changes, toward the end of the meeting, Womble asked for Large to offer his advice, first thanking him for his pro-bono service over the last couple of years. His donation of time also helps FRL because it can be considered an in-kind donation, which helps when applying for grants.

Large, who said it had been an honor to give legal services to FRL, put it bluntly. With all the moving parts — personnel issues, dividing property and resources and potential First Amendment issues that could come with moving or banning books, should the board choose to do that — high-level legal services are necessary. He said he’d be happy to make some recommendations.

“My biggest piece of advice at this point would be about legal counsel,” he said. “You guys, as a board, have a lot of issues that normally an attorney that would be representing a library board would not address. There’s a lot of municipal law and constitutional law that you guys are going to be advised on, and so my biggest piece of advice is, it would be in your best interest to get on retaining legal counsel ASAP.”

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