Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Libraries topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents urge county to reverse library guidelines, cite staff shortages and lack of transparency
Summary
Multiple residents told the Columbia County Board of Commissioners that recently adopted library guidelines have been implemented without transparency, that staff morale and retention have suffered, and called for the county to rescind the guidelines and return control to library professionals and the regional network.
Dozens of residents asked the Columbia County Board of Commissioners on July evening to rescind recently adopted library guidelines and to stop political interference in library operations. Speakers said the guidelines were adopted without input from librarians, have led to staff vacancies and service disruptions, and that plans to withdraw from the regional library system were pursued without public notice.
Public commenters said the issue matters because it affects the county’s public library workforce, the services residents receive, and the county’s membership in the regional library system. Several speakers tied the debate to broader questions about intellectual freedom and the county’s reputation as it seeks economic development.
Ashley Keller said the county’s handling of the guidelines reflected “control and censorship” and called out a lack of transparency. “The guidelines were passed without any input from librarians or citizens,” Keller said, and said the possibility of removing Columbia County from the regional library system was revealed only after an open-records request. Keller also said the county’s library advisory board had removed references to partnering with librarians in its bylaws and was exercising authority to implement policies.
Karen Parham told commissioners she had tried to engage the board since last September and said staff resignations and vacancies had followed the policy changes. “The county currently has six positions open at Evans and two at Harlem,” Parham said. She alleged that some appointments to the library advisory board were politically aligned; she said one appointee and her husband each contributed to a commissioner’s campaign, and that the board’s changes risked violating the regional library constitution by dissolving the county library board.
Marlena Bergeron and Howard Johnson framed their remarks around intellectual freedom and community inclusion. Bergeron invoked historical examples of censorship and urged commissioners to place the matter on a public ballot if they believed their policy changes reflected residents’ wishes. Johnson, who attends a weekly library craft group, said the new policies conveyed the message to members—some of whom have LGBTQ family or friends—that “we are not welcome there.”
Andres Reed Smith said public libraries are a civic “third space” and urged the board to reverse course, arguing that policing children’s reading choices is a parental responsibility. Several speakers asked the commission to allow library professionals to manage collection decisions and to restore library relationships with the regional system they said was being undermined.
Speakers made a mix of factual claims about vacancies and board actions and expressed opinions about appointments and motivations. The comments included specific requests: rescind the guidelines, return to the regional (PINES) system and reconstitute an advisory board that includes librarians and city or school representation. No formal action on library policy was taken during the public-comment period recorded in the transcript.
The county’s public-comment session lasted multiple speakers and more than 30 minutes on the library topic; residents repeatedly characterized the dispute as a matter of transparency, staffing, and library governance. Several speakers asked commissioners to stop what they described as politicization of library services and to restore operational control to library professionals.
