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Union County commissioners direct library to create 'tween' section, approve $309,000 for book purchases
Summary
After months of complaints about age-appropriate placements, the board directed library staff to create a 10–12 “tween” section and approved $309,000 to buy books for adult, teen and children collections; the board also authorized the county manager to execute related contract terms.
The Union County Board of Commissioners voted Sept. 2 to direct library staff to create a separate “tween” section aimed at roughly 10‑ to 12‑year‑old readers and to release $309,000 in budgeted funds so the library can proceed with planned purchases of adult fiction, adult nonfiction, teen and children’s books.
Commissioners discussed complaints from parents about material placed in the children’s section that some felt was not age appropriate for younger readers. At the meeting, library staff explained current selection and checkout processes: four senior librarians make category-specific selections (children, teen, adult fiction and adult nonfiction) and the library director, Nina, reviews those selections before purchase.
Miss Schaffen, a library staff member working on collection development, described the proposed age target for the new section. “Tween is typically 10 to 12 when we look at the age range when we're thinking about creating a section,” she said. Schaffen told the board the juvenile fiction collection is already organized by grade-range, and a tween section would target middle-school readers who are not yet in the teen classification.
Commissioner Christina Helms and others raised questions about placement and promotional displays (end caps) so that highlighted books intended for a tween audience would not draw the attention of much younger library visitors. Library staff explained that library cards can be configured so parents restrict circulation to the juvenile-only collection; staff offered to adjust the juvenile card age range by request so juvenile-only cards would prevent checkout of higher-level materials.
Following that discussion the board made two motions: first, to direct the library to create a tween section targeting roughly ages 10–12; and second, to allow the library to proceed with planned FY2026 purchases totaling $309,000 for adult fiction, adult nonfiction, teen and children’s materials. A board member added language giving the county manager authority to “negotiate and execute an agreement substantially consistent with the agenda item, exercise any renewal or extension term options … and terminate the agreement if deemed necessary.” The motions were adopted by voice vote as recorded on the meeting record.
Library staff said the new section would be created largely by reclassifying material already in the juvenile fiction collection and by adjusting circulation card settings as directed by parents. The board did not specify an exact final age cutoff beyond the 10–12 target discussed; staff said they can set juvenile-only cards to narrower age ranges if the board prefers.
The board’s approval clears a roughly $309,000 purchase that county staff had deferred while the board discussed collection placement. The transcript does not include an itemized breakdown of the planned purchases by title or vendor; staff indicated that existing selection and review procedures will continue to guide acquisitions.
