Jackson library exit critics cite Yancey chaos, dubious ‘list’
Jackson commissioners have until June 30 to reverse their decision on withdrawal from the Fontana Regional Library System.
File photo
While some originally hoped — and continue to hope — that a series of amendments to the Fontana Regional Library System proposed by Jackson County commissioners might ameliorate enough of their concerns to allow them to remain in the decades-long partnership with the FRL system, a questionable pamphlet and an academically dubious “list of inappropriate books” being circulated by FRL opponents suggests otherwise, even as FRL supporters report troubling visions of Christmas future if commissioners don’t turn back soon.
Speakers during the public comment session of the Dec. 16 meeting of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners continued to voice opposition of the planned withdrawal, six months after commissioners voted 4-to-1 to end the 80-year partnership over LGBTQ+ materials in the library.
All along, a similar effort has been playing out in Yancey County, which began its exodus from the Avery, Mitchell, Yancey regional library system exactly one year before Jackson County did — offering what may be a glimpse of things to come for Jackson County.
“Nearly a year later, the Yancey model has proved highly unsuccessful and Jackson County is now showing early-stage parallels,” Brad Reisinger, a newly elected member of the Webster Board of Commissioners, told Jackson commissioners.
According to the Reisinger, Yancey County’s withdrawal from its regional library system was initially framed as a way to maintain continuity of services, stable leadership and local governance without sacrificing professional capacity, but since then, there’s been complete staff turnover, the absence of a functioning library board, elimination of key professional positions and repeated disruptions to the NC Cardinal library system, including outages lasting up to a month. Community meeting spaces are no longer available outside library hours, and the library’s website and social media presence were replaced with a single static county page.
Reisinger also cited fiscal impacts, stating that Yancey County’s library budget was reduced while local taxpayers assumed a greater burden for fewer services. Additional reductions, including shorter hours and loss of the bookmobile, are anticipated by mid-2026.
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Later during public comment, Sylva resident Michael Jones called out commissioner Jenny Lynn Hooper for distributing the “Jexit” pamphlet, which repeats many of the claims put forth by opponents of the FRL over the past year — namely that the county has no control over employee wages, that the county is “overpaying” for its libraries and the vague, unsupported claim that, “many families have quietly left the library to protect their children’s innocence.”
Jones mentioned that the pamphlet asserts “hundreds” of books in the FRL system are inappropriate for children and demanded from Hooper a list of those books.
The list, obtained by The Smoky Mountain News, was originally shared by Jackson County Public Library Board member Kitti Bradley, according to an Adobe sign-in prompt. Metadata from the file lists its author only as “Lori.” FRL board member Lori Richards did not return an email from SMN asking if she was the author of the document.
Purportedly a compilation of more than 250 “age-inappropriate” books located in the juvenile or young adult sections of the Fontana Regional library, the document lists titles, authors, categories and a “rating” from zero to 5, with zero deemed appropriate for all ages, and 5 labeled as “deviant content.”
The source of the ratings, according to the document, is neither impartial nor professional in nature. Instead, it’s ratedbooks.org, which continues to face significant skepticism and critique from actual librarians who question its methodological rigor and professional standing, raising doubts about its use as a credible authority.
Per the website, the ratings themselves are created by “parent teams,” not by trained professionals. The organization fundraises off the reviews, asking for $50 to “sponsor” a review.
According to Book Riot, the largest independent editorial book site in North America, ratedbooks.org is grouped with other “unprofessional, politically-driven review sites” that critics say are created outside of established literary review practices. Indeed, the links provided in the document for each book’s rating redirect to another such website, called booklooks.org.
“BookLooks is the most well-known website for unprofessional, biased book reviews,” writes Illinois librarian and Book Riot contributor Kelly Jensen, noting that book content sites like RatedBooks are part of the same cabal.
Ratedbooks.org’s own structure highlights its advocacy partnerships with groups aimed at community monitoring rather than academic or professional library review — namely, “No Left Turn in Education,” a “Moms for Liberty”-adjacent group that collaborates with RatedBooks to inform parents about book content — positioning the rating system within a broader framework of political activism.
A spring 2023 feature by two university professors in the American Library Association’s Journal of Intellectual Freedom & Privacy lays bare the role of such websites.
“When attempting to enact book bans, challengers often rely on book reviews and rating sources that are designed and authored by people working outside the field of librarianship and who may have little to no professional qualifications in the field,” the authors write. “These sources, while presenting themselves as impartial, can be biased and steeped in partisan positions. BookLooks.org is one of the resources used to support efforts to remove books from K-12 public schools.”
The ALA feature further exposes the websites, explaining that while they claim to reveal objectionable content, “Findings from our study suggest that these report cards promote skepticism about factual data and objective definitions of terms, undermine allyship and support for LGBTQIA+ students and systematically target gender presentation that lies outside of a masculine-feminine binary or sexualities other than heterosexuality.”
Despite Hooper’s continuing support for FRL withdrawal, commissioners went on to approve unanimously three proposed changes to the FRL bylaws. Commissioner Todd Bryson, who has stated he won’t be seeking reelection, was not at the meeting.
The changes would place a sitting county commissioner from each of the three FRL counties — Jackson, Macon and Swain — on the FRL board, would make the FRL director and county librarian roles separate jobs and would mandate that funds remaining after operational costs be reimbursed to FRL member counties.
That same night, Swain County commissioners passed the bylaws unanimously as well. Outgoing county manager Lottie Barker explained the amendments to commissioners before the vote.
“Jackson County was the one that asked for the changes and [sic] hopeful that this agreement may allow them to stay into the library, Fontana Regional,” Barker said.
Now, only Macon County has to act. If Macon approves the proposed changes, they’ll go on to the FRL board for a vote.
