Residents urge transparency, board appointments after county leaves regional library system

Several residents urged the Columbia County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 6 to restore transparency and appoint members to a new regional library board after the county withdrew from the Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library System in May.

Karen Parham, of 3421 Hilltop Trail, said the county dissolved its county-level advisory board and created an empty regional board with no members, leaving a transition period with “no public library meetings and no chance for citizens to see or weigh in on these new policies.” She said staff have stopped emailing about library business for fear of open records requests and that staff departures and cuts to teen programming have followed.

Parham and other speakers criticized library policy changes the county adopted on Sept. 3, 2024, described in public comments as “age-appropriate guidelines” that moved certain titles to adult collections and that they view as vague and overbroad. Parham told commissioners that a handful of placement decisions did not appear to follow the adopted guidelines.

Speakers argued that undermining library access reduces regional visits that support county sales tax revenue and public programming. Howard Johnson and another resident noted regional-library partnerships attracted nonresidents who use Columbia County library services and then patronize local businesses, supporting sales-tax receipts.

Residents asked the commission to appoint members to the Columbia County Regional Library Board, hold regular public meetings during the transition, and make policy discussions open and visible. Commission staff and commissioners did not announce a timeline for board appointments at the meeting.

Speakers said they were not framing the issue along party lines and urged the commission to restore trust by placing library policy decisions in public view.