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Residents urge county to remain in Fontana Regional Library amid dispute over LGBTQ materials
Summary
Dozens of residents and library professionals urged the Jackson County Board of Commissioners to stay in the Fontana Regional Library, arguing withdrawal would harm services, First Amendment protections and vulnerable patrons; callers also accused a small group of misleading commissioners.
Dozens of residents told Jackson County commissioners during the public comment period that withdrawing from the Fontana Regional Library system would damage local services and curb access to information, with many speakers urging the board to reverse its decision.
Marie Ellen Ramsac opened the public-comment sequence by defending freedom of speech and library content. "Freedom of speech is the basic premise of libraries," she said, adding that sexual orientation is not equivalent to pedophilia and recounting her experience supporting HIV/AIDS patients in the 1980s and 1990s.
Several speakers, including Jean Hall and Chris Jefferson, framed the dispute as a matter of community values and constitutional rights. Hall said withdrawing from the regional system would not solve the underlying problem of how neighbors work together and stressed the countys duty to protect access for a wide variety of viewpoints. "Reasonable people can work together to resolve the real problem and stay within the FRL," she said.
Mary Cox, who identified herself as a librarian with an MLS, told the board that leaving the Fontana system risks losing services such as Libby, interlibrary loan and professional staffing. "When you go off of the FRL, sometimes they bring in somebody who's just a clerk. It is not a real librarian," she said, describing programs and technical supports that the regional system provides.
Other speakers raised practical and fiscal concerns. Ann Austin and K. Callahan recalled the librarys community origins, the Carlton familys land donation and the facilitys central role in Cashers life. K. Callahan asked where consultant funding would come from and what the timeline is for any consultant work, and requested disclosure of the specific title that originally sparked the controversy, which the board had not identified publicly.
Several comments also contained direct accusations and partisan framing. One resident said commissioners had been "misled by a small radical group" into the withdrawal decision and urged reversal, while others characterized the move as an attempt to eliminate LGBTQ materials. Those allegations were not addressed in the meeting by an on-the-record rebuttal from the board during the public-comment period.
Speakers emphasized the librarys role as community hub and safety net: patrons cited summer programs, meeting space for tax preparation and computer-access tutoring that supported local entrepreneurs and vulnerable residents. Multiple speakers asked the board to consider renovation and continued partnership rather than separation.
The board did not take a vote on the library membership during this meeting; public comment closed and the meeting proceeded to financial reports and other agenda items.
