'Equal opportunity offender:' Community defends FRL amidst Jackson’s possible withdrawal
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Two weeks after the Jackson County Commission floated a possible withdrawal from the Fontana Regional Library system, residents showed up to speak at the May 20 commission meeting for more than three and a half hours of public comment, with the majority voicing their opposition to withdrawal.
Commissioners listened to residents but had no discussion regarding county libraries and the Fontana Regional Library system.
A new agreement between the three counties that make up the Fontana Regional Library system — Jackson, Macon and Swain — had been reached in November, signaling what was thought to be the end of almost two years of controversy over the merits of the regional library system and libraries themselves.
The agreement was the result of more than a year and a half of work among commissioners, managers and attorneys in all three counties.
The debate about the library system began in March 2023 when Macon Commissioner Danny Antoine floated the idea of withdrawing from the Fontana Regional Library system over concerns with books containing LGBTQ content or themes, especially those intended for younger audiences.
Antoine’s intent to pull out of the system set off months of back and forth between counties over the Fontana Regional Library Board and each of the individual county library boards.
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When the new agreement was approved in November, each county commission expressed commitment to the new document. That changed on May 6 when Commissioner John Smith, who had been an active participant in Jackson’s involvement in the new FRL agreement, brought the issue before his board.
“I continue to get hounded by people about the stuff they’re displaying in the libraries,” said Smith, who led the discussion about possible withdrawal at the May 6 meeting. “They’re promoting the same ideology that most people in this county reject.”
After a brief discussion, it became clear that four commissioners — Smith, Jenny Hooper, Michael Jennings and Todd Bryson — were either in favor of leaving the library system, or at least open to it. The board directed County Manager Kevin King to explore options for withdrawal.
Commission Chairman Mark Letson later told the Smoky Mountain News he was not in favor of removing Jackson County from the library system.
“I still think it’s a horrible idea to withdraw,” he said.
At the board’s May 20 meeting, hundreds of Jackson residents showed up en masse to express their opinion on the library issue, with the vast majority arguing for the library to maintain its status within the Fontana Regional Library system.
Sixty people spoke over the course of more than three hours, with eight voicing their approval of withdrawal and 52 urging commissioners to keep the library within the FRL system.
Anne Link is a Jackson County resident and teacher who said she couldn’t believe she was there to defend a “fully funded and well-resourced library.”
“I can tell you the things my students have to worry about, and it sure isn’t the things they find in a library,” Link said. “My students worry about keeping up academically. They worry about their parents fighting and possibly leaving. They worry about the things their peers say about them and to them on social media. They worry about the care of their siblings when their parents aren’t around, and they worry whether or not they’re safe at home.”
One library board member from Macon County, Diann Catlin, used her time in public comment to say that commissioners in Jackson County were right to consider withdrawal and that it was their responsibility to look at whether the library system is “doing the best that they can.”
Her husband, Bodie Catlin, spoke about the same LGBTQ issues that instigated the discussions about the system, saying that “The FRL pushes the sexualization of our children.”
“In my opinion, if you approve this book, then you are a pervert,” Catlin said, holding up a copy of a book previously challenged by him and his wife before the FRL board. “I have no friends of mine who have a bankrupt moral character like some of those on these boards.”
“All we want is neutrality,” Catlin continued. “The library has no business promoting DEI and the woke agenda. The FRL board works for the Jackson County taxpayers, not the Marxist American Library Association and Planned Parenthood.”
Jackson County commissioners during public comments at the May 20 meeting. From Youtube
Several speakers took time to rebuke comments made by commissioners during the May 6 meeting.
“In this case, the question of LGBTQ representation at the library is not good enough a reason to abandon the Fontana Regional Library because it doesn’t hold up,” said Jonathan Bradshaw. “First, a library full of books is the last place we ought to expect neutrality. Books altered western civilization… The library is where we go to learn new perspectives. Second, it’s not neutrality to remove identities from public discussion.”
At the May 6 meeting, Smith said, “Don’t throw everything in everybody’s face. If you’re going to throw this agenda in somebody’s face, you better be throwing the opposite side in their face as well. You got to have neutral or equal representation.”
During his public comment on May 20, Bradshaw quoted Smith and asked, “What does this mean?”
“Public representation of LGBTQ people affirms they are here, they are our family and friends, they are worthy of love and friendship, they are human as anyone else — what is the opposite of that?” Bradshaw continued. “Whatever it is, county dollars should not support it. Instead of neutrality, we ought to ask what should county dollars promote? For my money, I say freedom, safety and security, equality, democracy, education, learning; none of those ends are well served by leaving the FRL.”
Mike Jones, a retired Episcopal minister said that the library was one of the chief reasons he came to Sylva.
“The Jackson County Public Library has been serving our county tirelessly, efficiently and compassionately for long before any of us were ever born,” said Jones. “Now I got to tell you, I go to the library a lot because I live very close, and despite what you have heard, I have never seen anybody packing heat. I don’t see long lines of women waiting to wash their hair in the public restroom. And I don’t see kids waiting with lascivious looks to check out salacious books. What I do see is moms reading books to their kids in the kids’ section, reading to their four-year-olds, or dads playing with Thomas the Train. I did that with my grandchildren when I took them there. I see old men like me checking out murder mysteries and John Wayne DVDs and I see high school kids doing research and using the computers. The Jackson County Public Library is the safest place in Sylva, for cryin’ out loud.”
During the May 6 Jackson commission meeting, Commissioner Hooper repeated claims that unhoused people are dying their hair in library bathrooms, going so far as to accuse the library director of lying after she explained to the board that there had been one isolated hair-dying incident involving a teenager.
Hooper has also repeated claims that people are bringing weapons into the library and threatening library staff after hearing of another isolated incident in which an airsoft gun was found afterhours, stashed in the men’s bathroom.
“Some commissioners have spoken with near disdain for our unhoused members of the community that access the library’s resources, people who live here who you represent who have every right to access a public space, especially to seek a short reprieve from the January chill or the July heat,” said one resident. “To access clean water, to eat a free lunch or maybe accept a donated toothbrush or a bar of soap. To demonize this group and to use their struggle as justification for calling the library dangerous is indecent, unchristian and small.”
Many residents who urged withdrawal from the FRL system cited concerns over individual books. As one way of addressing this concern, Betsy Swift told commissioners that once, when she found a book in the library about white nationalism that offended her and she brought it to the attention of the librarian, the librarian at the time told her that the library was an “equal opportunity offender,” that there was something in the building to offend everyone.
Many residents touted the plethora of services at the library that they don’t want to see interrupted or gone altogether, including access to wifi in the wake of Hurricane Helene when most communication systems were down, room and gathering spaces for rent, children’s activities and educational opportunities.
Others were concerned about the financial implications of leaving the FRL system and asked that commissioners investigate the fiscal reality of withdrawal prior to making any decision.
Sarah Steiner took her time at the podium to draw attention to the community’s support of the library in the wake of commissioners’ discussion about possible withdrawal.
“A handful of us quickly sought community feedback to help show you that many people are happy [with the library] just in case you weren’t hearing from us,” said Steiner. “In eight days, a petition in favor of Jackson County Public Library and Fontana Regional Library got almost 1,900 signatures from Jackson residents alone and another 400 from Macon and Swain counties. In nine days, 792 locals took a small survey; 99% support staying in the FRL system and 98% say they feel safe in the library.”
“We also held a rally on Saturday at the Sylva fountain,” Steiner continued. “Over 300 people came to share their support for Jackson County Public Library and Fontana Regional Library, all wearing yellow to symbolize freedom and light and they came with less than a week’s notice.”
After more than three hours of public comment, Jackson County resident, musician, naturalist and son of a librarian Adam Bigelow took to the podium to remind commissioners that this sort of controversy over the library is nothing new.
“When [my mom] was the library director of Goldsboro, North Carolina, a group of people accidentally found a book on the shelf called ‘Daddy’s Roommate,’ and that was one of the first books that really kicked off the evangelical movement of going in and targeting books that they were told about to go find and try to get people fired and get things changed and that didn’t work then and it won’t work now,” Bigelow said. “Y’all have really messed up. Y’all coming for the librarians, and you don’t maybe realize this or know this, but librarians are the first defenders of freedom and the first line of defense in this continental United States against totalitarianism and tyranny.”
Bigelow also voiced his concern that commissioners may not take the opinions of the public to heart.
“Do I think that y’all are going to listen to us as we stood up here? Do I think that you are holding a capacity to change your minds or look at things from a different viewpoint?” Bigelow asked. “We’ve heard a lot of talk about faith up here today, my faith in that is very small. I think you’ve already made up your minds, most of you. I’ve seen a lot of looks of boredom or scowling, and we’ve gone through a lot of things, but I feel like y’all are already working on a mission, and we might as well be a bunch of crows out here just crowing to y’all. So, for the remainder of my time, I would like to crow to y’all as a crow.”
In what was a first for commissioners and the public alike, Bigelow proceeded to caw at commissioners and flap his arms like a bird for the remaining 40 seconds of his public comment period. By the end of his three minutes on the stand, many people in the crowd had taken up the call and were cawing at commissioners.
Tracy Fitzmaurice, Jackson County librarian and Fontana Regional Library director, said she has still not received any word from commissioners or the county manager regarding Jackson County withdrawing from the Fontana Regional Library system.
“The staff are all very anxious about the prospect of this happening, but we are continuing to operate normally,” Fitzmaurice told SMN. “There is a June 30 deadline for the notification of the intent to withdraw.”
In response to the discussion by Jackson commissioners, Macon County commissioners took an opportunity to reaffirm their support for the Fontana Regional Library system and the new agreement reached between counties at the end of the year during its May 13 meeting.
“I would just like to go on the record again as saying I’m not interested in pulling out of the FRL,” said Macon County Commissioner Barry Breeden. “I don’t think that’s something we’re interested in doing as a board either.”
Commissioner Danny Antoine also said, “We have no intention of pulling out of FRL.”
“We signed a contract and that’s not our intention at all,” Antoine continued. “I think in light of the recent developments in Jackson County, I would like to say we have no control over what other counties do. If they decide to do something like pull out, that’s a Jackson County or Swain County issue; that’s not a Macon County issue. If that does happen, we may have to revisit this and try to figure out how to make sure we’re moving forward, because our intention is to make sure that our library stays open and resources stay available.”
