Library allies celebrate: Former FRL Director Tracy Fitzmaurice’s legacy honored
Despite a tough time filled with uncertainty, former Fontana Regional Library Director Tracy Fitzmaurice had plenty of reasons to smile as she spoke to a crowd of adoring supporters.
Kyle Perrotti photo
The Fontana Regional Library has held part of Tracy Fitzmaurice’s heart for over half of her life, and now she must consider what to do without it.
Fitzmaurice, 60, first came to the region during a March 1985 vacation. While in the region, she visited Western Carolina University. After returning home to England, she applied to attend college in the place that instantly captured her heart, and in August 1985, she made the move.
“The mountains, the river, the wildlife, the people,” she said, “this place just felt like home.”
The initial plan was to become a veterinarian, and Fitzmaurice even earned her undergraduate degree in biology with that aim in mind. Along with volunteering at the animal shelter, she also volunteered at Sylva’s library. She fell in love with it.
“I never wanted a job where I would be doing it to make money,” Fitzmaurice said. “I always wanted to help people in any way I could, and I realized in the library, you can do that for free every day, all walks of life. So I worked. When my visa and my green card and everything got approved, I got a job there.”
“I feel like I’m probably one of the luckiest people on earth to have fallen into it, because it really was absolutely accidental,” she added.
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She has been with FRL since 1991. The library system runs six libraries over Jackson, Macon and Swain counties, allowing those counties to pool their resources for a more efficient system that offers more robust services.
A few years after Fitzmaurice landed her bookish gig, someone gave her a piece of advice that changed her trajectory. If she’s really committed to working at the library, she’d might as well pursue a graduate degree that would open up her prospects in the field. In the following years, she earned that degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Fitzmaurice was named the FRL director in January 2023. Not long after that promotion, commissioners in the three member counties gained the power to appoint new FRL board members, and the trajectory of the organization shifted. The new director came under scrutiny over the last year from newer FRL Board of Trustees members who questioned whether she harbored a political ideology that influenced the system’s direction.
In late January, she tendered her resignation, and her last day at the helm was Feb. 26.
Antoinette MacWatt (top) led the crowd in toasting their red Solo cups in honor of Tracy Fitzmaurice. Kyle Perrotti photos
Last Saturday, the nonprofit Friends of the Jackson County Public Library hosted an event celebrating Fitzmaurice at Innovation Brewing in Dillsboro at a space the venue provided free of charge. Near the beginning of the event, Friends of the Jackson County Public Library Vice President Antoinette MacWatt, and Sue Lipton, who runs the nonprofit’s used bookstore, offered some words for the crowd.
“Speaking on behalf of the Friends of the Library, I would say that Tracy has been an amazing steward of the funds we’ve raised at the bookstore,” Lipton said. “We’ve always trusted that she would put the money to the best possible use, in the best possible way for our community, in an inclusive way. Personally speaking, I have found Tracy to be one of the kindest and most understanding people.”
Every table had a stack of red Solo cups in the center. Following MacWatt’s brief speech, which included highbrow and lowbrow quotes from the likes of T.S. Eliot and Jimmy Buffett, she quoted Toby Keith.
“Now, red Solo cup is the best receptacle
For barbecues, tailgates, fairs, and festivals / And you, sir, do not have a pair of testicles / If you prefer drinkin’ from glass
Hey, red Solo cup is cheap and disposable / In 14 years, they are decomposable / And unlike my home, they are not foreclosable,” she said.
“Grab a cup and lift it up as we celebrate,” she directed, leading the crowd to toast their plastic cups.
After the toast, Fitzmaurice addressed the crowd, becoming emotional as she spoke.
Sue Lipton (from left), Tracy Fitzmaurice and Antoinette MacWatt stepped away from the party for a group photo. Kyle Perrotti photo
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you all,” she said. “I’ve had so much support over the last four or five years and my whole career here. I remember seeing some of you, really young. Many of you that are here weren’t even born when I started.”
MacWatt and Lipton told The Smoky Mountain News that Fitzmaurice stood out by having a heart for the service that trickled down to library staff and made the whole system stronger. MacWatt pointed out the design motif for the event, which featured red hearts that looked like floating balloons with red strings.
“When the theme of the celebration today was chosen, it’s her love that she’s brought to this community. It is her heart. It’s her openness to everybody and her unwillingness to criticize or minimize people,” MacWatt said.
While Fitzmaurice’s legacy will be the dedication and compassion with which she served, it will also be her competence. In 2025, she was given the North Carolina Library Association’s Distinguished Library Service Award, a reflection of what’s in both her head and her heart. Fitzmaurice said she loves having a job that changes with technological advancements, always challenging her to find new ways to better serve the folks who patronize the Fontana Regional Library System.
“I love learning, and I like learning how to help people,” Fitzmaurice said. “It was this constant thing that just kept me going.”
Fitzmaurice said she has considered what she wants to do in the future and has a few “irons in the fire.”
But for now, it’s time slow down a bit and breathe. She’s been using her time now to “just enjoy life.”
She recently adopted a 14-week-old rescue dog, a pitty mix she thinks, and she’s looking forward to attending her 24th Merlefest in a few weeks. She also wants to volunteer for Meals on Wheels delivering food to senior citizens who don’t often have much human contact.
“This is the best time of year to not be at work,” she said with a smile.
While Fitzmaurice may not be working for FRL for the first time in almost 35 years, she does still find herself in a library from time to time, and then she feels at home in her “little kingdom” all over again.
“[The librarians] will laugh and say, ‘Go get your own book. You know where they are,’” Fitzmaurice said.
