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Residents accuse Chapel Hill Public Library of promoting antisemitic materials; critics link concerns to proposed funding cut
Summary
Speakers at the Orange County budget hearing alleged some Chapel Hill Public Library materials and display placement demean or erase Jewish history; advocates urged the Board to withhold funding until concerns are addressed, and the transcript records no response from library leadership.
Two speakers at the May 28 public hearing accused the Chapel Hill Public Library of mishandling Jewish-related materials and displays and urged county leaders to take funding and curation concerns seriously.
"There are books in our library that erase Jews and Jewish history. They promote false, demonizing narratives against Jews and Israel," resident Amy Rosenthal told the Board, saying that the issue is not a matter of "both sides" but of falsehoods that can lead to hate. Rosenthal asked whether the Board should continue to provide funding to a library that she said is promoting antisemitism.
Resident Josh Ravitch said photos his group provided to the Board showed the Jewish American Heritage Month display initially placed where patrons would see it on May 15, but later rotated so that it faced away from walking paths. "The pattern here is troubling," Ravitch said, and he urged the Board to consider whether the library was minimizing visibility for the display.
Others who spoke during the hearing stressed the library’s role in the community and the potential impacts of any funding reduction. Karen Curtin, president of the Friends of the Chapel Hill Public Library, said the library budget reported by her group is $4.3 million and warned that cuts would reduce services for Chapel Hill residents and tens of thousands of users who come from outside the town.
The transcript records that Rosenthal and Ravitch presented their concerns and that Ravitch provided photos to the Board via the Deputy Clerk during his remarks; it does not record any response from library leadership or county staff addressing the specific allegations during the hearing. The complaints were raised in the context of proposed county reductions to library funding, which several speakers said would compound the harms they described.
Next steps were not recorded in the hearing transcript; the Board received the comments as part of the public record and moved into a recess before the work session and subsequent appointment items.
