Face to face: Jackson County meets Fontana board amid library controversy

Finally face to face amid a simmering standoff over library governance and subjectively inappropriate material in a regional library system that’s served locals for more than 80 years, Jackson County commissioners spent nearly three hours in a joint meeting with the Fontana Regional Library Board of Trustees on June 19 learning just how much they don’t know about running a library.

Leaving FRL just doesn’t make sense

Citizens and constituents of Sylva, I’d like to offer you an apology. In fact, I owe you two.

All Sylva residents are also Jackson County constituents — Sylva is the county seat, and county-level decisions affect us directly. The Jackson County Public Library is a clear example. 

Burning books creates problems

To the Editor:

Having read Gary Carden's piece on Ray Bradbury's “Fahrenheit 451,” I was immediately reminded of a quotation from the 19th-century German-Jewish poet and essayist, Heinrich Heine: “Where one burns books, one will ultimately burn people, too.”

Forewarned is forearmed.

David Dorondo 
Cullowhee

Sylva Town Council rejects resolution of support for Fontana Library system

A  proposed resolution that expressed support for the Fontana Regional Library system didn’t survive the first four minutes of the Town of Sylva Board of Commissioners meeting on June 12, after Commissioner Jonathan Brown moved to strike the item from the meeting’s agenda. 

A burning question: Jackson commissioners still considering library withdrawal

In a year when Jackson County commissioners are proposing a substantial property tax hike, outside agitators are still pushing commissioners to consider a costly withdrawal from the Fontana Regional Library system that could result in an even costlier lawsuit, all over an issue that will never be resolved to everyone’s liking — the definition of “inappropriate.” 

Blow the tannery whistle: Bradbury still burns, 72 years later

I first read “Fahrenheit 451” around 1953 when we were dealing with the McCarthy era. This country was in the grips of a politician who preached a dangerous message. He said that America was being invaded by communism and he urged everyone to assist him in seeking out and removing anyone who had joined this dangerous movement.

Anti-FRL crowd Is spreading lies

To the Editor:

I just read the opinion by Regan Fleming. This individual is part of a group of people who are working to dismantle the Fontana Regional Library. 

'Equal opportunity offender:' Community defends FRL amidst Jackson’s possible withdrawal

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. 

Jackson leaders show their hand

To the Editor:

Have you noticed how quietly our basic freedoms can disappear? Right now in Jackson County, a small group of commissioners is on the verge of dismantling our entire library system — not because it’s failing us, but because it’s succeeding at something they fear: exposing people to ideas beyond a single worldview. 

‘It’s got to go’: Commissioners want to remove Jackson libraries from FRL

Anyone who thought that two years, dozens of meetings, thousands of dollars and hours of public comment to reach a new interlocal agreement between Jackson, Macon and Swain counties for the Fontana Regional Library would spell the end of the controversy over local libraries thought wrong. 

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