Plot twist emerges in Jackson library fight
Intrigues continue to surround the Jackson County library.
File photo
After months of tension between Jackson County and the Fontana Regional Library system, commissioners appear to be charting a new course — one that could ultimately reverse their June decision to withdraw from the regional library partnership.
At the very end of their Nov. 4 meeting, Jackson commissioners discussed three proposed amendments to the Fontana Regional Library interlocal agreement.
“You had asked [County Attorney John Kubis] and I to craft — or mostly John — to craft some amendments to the Fontana Regional agreement for the other two counties [to consider], and so the other two counties have put this on their agenda,” said County Manager Kevin King in presenting commissioners with the proposed amendments.
The agreement governs library operations in Jackson, Macon and Swain counties. Jackson Commissioners voted 4-1 in June to leave the Fontana system after disagreements over governance, book challenges and local control. Jackson’s withdrawal would end an eight-decade regional partnership that provides shared funding, materials and professional staffing across the three rural counties.
The withdrawal, which will formally take effect on July 1, 2026, can be rescinded any time before then by a vote of commissioners.
According to county estimates, withdrawal would require around a $500,000-increase in funding from the county just to maintain existing services and programming — on top of a substantial property tax increase already passed by commissioners this past June.
Related Items
Over 1,000 acres protected in Haywood County
Browse a seed library
Forest bathing: slow down and immerse yourself
Preserve Fontana Regional Library
In August, commissioners also committed up to $50,000 for library consultants who would advise the county on withdrawal protocols.
The amendment discussion was not on the meeting’s published agenda. No one appeared to be seated in the gallery near the conclusion of the two-hour meeting when King presented the amendments.
Library supporters, often wearing yellow in support of the FRL, continue to harangue commissioners during public comment sessions and have not ceased to call for commissioners to reverse their decision, nearly five months after the vote.
Now, the proposed changes — to the governing documents of a partnership the county ostensibly wants to abandon — suggest a willingness to reform the relationship with FRL rather than sever it entirely.
Cynthia Womble, who resigned as FRL board chair in September citing difficulties “[reining] board members in,” is still an FRL board member representing Swain County and told The Smoky Mountain News Nov. 10 she was surprised when she heard about the amendments.
“I am cautiously optimistic that this means that Jackson County is looking at a path to staying in Fontana Regional Library, because to date, they had been going down the road of how to set up their own library and I think they are finding that it would be very expensive and would not necessarily be the best choice for the people of Jackson County,” she said.
The first proposed amendment would modify the membership structure of the Fontana Regional Library Board of Trustees, preserving equal representation among counties on the Fontana Regional Library Board of Trustees but stipulating that one member from each county must be a sitting county commissioner at the time of appointment and throughout the member’s service.
“On the surface that seems like a good idea, because it further tightens the control and governance that the county commissioners would have over Fontana Regional Library, which is one of the stated goals of the previous rewrite of the FRL regional agreement [in 2024],” said Womble, a retired Navy officer with expertise in human resources. “But the flip side is that I know the county commissioners are all busy people. Having yet another meeting to go to is not necessarily something they want, and some of them have a pretty dismal track record of attending meetings for the boards that they’ve already been appointed to.”
Womble was referring to a recent SMN investigation that found Commissioner Jenny Lynn Hooper had missed at least 13 of 16 meetings of advisory boards this year, and also to reporting that Commissioner John Smith had missed three of four meetings of the Jackson County Library Board since January.
The second proposed amendment would clarify expectations for the regional director, adding that “the regional director shall devote full professional effort to the Fontana Regional Library and shall not simultaneously hold a director position or comparable executive role in any other participating county library system or library entity within the region.”
This amendment would solve an issue mentioned during deliberations this past spring and summer — Tracy Fitzmaurice’s service as both Jackson County library director and FRL regional director. During a joint meeting of Jackson commissioners and FRL trustees just prior to the withdrawal vote, everyone seemed to agree that “double-hatting” Fitzmaurice wasn’t ideal.
Womble said she’s “100% on board” with the idea, and is already on record as saying so. During the joint meeting, she said that Fitzmaurice wasn’t paid anywhere near what she deserved for the two roles. If the amendment is adopted, it would add another full-time position at FRL headquarters, but the FRL would have to receive an additional $25,000-$30,000 or more from each of the three counties to make the hire.
The third proposed amendment would adjust the FRL’s financial framework to require that “upon completion of the audit and calculation of payables, any remaining funds in excess of operational costs will be reimbursed to the county or counties that allocated the funding in proportion to their respective contributions.”
Clarifying the proposed amendment, Jackson County Commission Chair Mark Letson asked King whether the library would still maintain a fund balance under the revised terms.
King responded that the proposal would not affect the current fund balance; in an August public comment session, Jackson GOP Chair Keith Blaine falsely claimed that the fund balance is an “overpayment” while demanding repayment of FRL’s fund balance to the county, when in reality it’s a “savings account” mandated by state law.
Blaine was chastised by subsequent speakers just before then-FRL finance officer Lynn Cody told SMN that he was comfortable with the FRL’s $1.9 million fund balance and that Jackson County had no claim to any of it upon withdrawal from the system.
“Currently, they do have a fund balance and so that would remain,” King told Letson, further clarifying the issue. “It’s not something that we’re going to claw back. This is kind of like from here on, if you decide to stay [in the FRL system] or whatever.”
Commissioner Keith Jennings, however, still asked about the current fund balance. King told him the proposed agreement doesn’t address current fund balance. Commissioner Jenny Lynn Hooper then asked why the county didn’t already have the legal right to claw back the funds, something that had been explained previously.
Womble calls the third proposed amendment “a red herring.”
“The only money that comes from the three counties is for salary and benefits of the employees who work in the county libraries,” Womble said. “The only way there would be excess in that at the end of a fiscal year would be if you did not have all your positions filled.”
Commissioner Todd Bryson, who tangled with Womble during the joint meeting, seemed to support the overall direction of the revisions with his closing comments to fellow commissioners.
“I think the amendments are close, all the way around,” Bryson said. “Like you mentioned, the [FRL] Board of Trustees, they have more authority than what they realize to make some of these changes that need to be made.”
If approved by all three member counties later this month, the amendments would reshape the Fontana Regional Library agreement and could lay the groundwork for Jackson County to remain within the system rather than to bring county government into the business of operating a library for the first time ever.
The interlocal agreement, however, has four signatories — meaning all three counties and the FRL board must vote to adopt the amendments.
The proposals will next go before Macon County commissioners on Nov. 13 and Swain County commissioners on Nov. 18 and must be approved by all three commissions before taking effect. The proposal will also likely see a formal vote from Jackson commissioners on Nov. 18.
Not one Jackson County Commissioner — Bryson, Hooper, Letson, Michael Jennings or John Smith — responded to requests from SMN seeking comment on the amendments.
