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Residents urge supervisors to stop probing Samuels Library; speakers defend county investment
Summary
At a Warren County Board meeting, residents defended Samuels Library’s endowment and criticized board scrutiny as political overreach; a resident and a county official gave detailed financial figures backing the county’s purchase and renovation of library property.
Residents at the Warren County Board of Supervisors meeting pressed elected officials to back off a review of Samuels Library’s finances and governance, arguing the institution’s endowment and services benefit the community.
Tony Carter, who identified himself from the Happy Creek District, laid out the county’s payments and renovation costs for the library property, saying the county paid a total of $5,550,102 under a lease‑purchase arrangement and cited renovation costs and grant offsets. “The total cost to the county was right at $1,200,000,” Carter said while summarizing purchase and renovation figures and calling the property a sound community investment. He told the board he provided a packet of supporting documents.
Kelsey Lawrence of the Fork District framed the dispute as less about money than control, criticizing supervisors for targeting a “celebrated” library and accusing some local officials of coordinating book removals. “Keep your hands off our library, please,” Lawrence told the board, and warned that underfunding or reconfiguring the library would harm community access to information. She singled out a local official by name in relation to removal requests, saying the library’s endowment and governance structure follow common nonprofit practice.
The discussion occurred during the public comment portion of the meeting; no board vote or formal action on library governance was recorded that evening. Board members acknowledged the public remarks and noted the library matter remains subject to the county’s budget and public‑hearing processes.
The board provided no formal response or decision at that time; the meeting moved on to the scheduled public hearings and other business.
