Burnsville, NC.
TL;DR: The Yancey County Public Library is the target of an anti-LGBTQ takeover by the county commission.
— The library’s 2023 Pride display drew complaints from the community.
— Yancey county commissioners appointed themselves and a resident who made the complaints to the local library advisory board
— The commission has voted to remove the library from a regional tri-county system
— Most of the library’s assets belong to the regional system
— No assurances have been made about how the library will be funded in the future
— Changes take effect in June of 2025 unless the process is stopped
— Three of five commissioners are up for re-election in November
— Monday evening library supporters walked with signs and chanting from the library to the county courthouse ahead of a commission meeting in which the commissioners again appointed themselves to more seats on the advisory board
About 100 people gathered Monday evening in Burnsville to support the Yancey County Public Library, which is slated to be withdrawn from its regional tri-county library system after complaints about its Pride Month display last summer. The crowd walked about three quarters of a mile from the library to the Yancey County courthouse on the town square. In a special meeting this summer, county commissioners voted unanimously to withdraw the library from the Avery-Mitchel-Yancey (AMY) regional library system, reversing an apparent compromise reached with AMY administration last year. In Monday’s regular meeting, the county commission appointed three of its own members to serve on the county’s Library Advisory Board (a fourth, the commission chairman, is already on the board).
Very little information is available: Yancey County does not have media in the common sense of the term. The paper of record is the Yancey Times Journal, which, according to library supporters, does not employ a reporter, and directly re-printed a county-issued press release regarding the vote to withdraw the library from AMY (full disclosure: I worked at the YTJ as a reporter in 2000-2001). County press releases do not appear on the county website, but have appeared on the website of a local radio station. A Facebook group called Burnsville Hub was the center for local discussion until its activity was “paused” by its administrators, one of whom, I was told by rally-goers, reports to the county commission. Commission meetings are open to the public, but, as far as I can tell, are not recorded in any way. Minutes are available on the county website.
The county commissioners have made no comment about their motivation for removing the library from the AMY system, in spite of requests from WLOS and Carolina Public Press. But last fall, the commission received a formal complaint about the Pride display from Yancey resident Sheila Poehler, who complained on the library’s Facebook page over 75 times. The commission responded by packing the local library advisory board with seven new members, including Sheila Poehler, and ordered County Manager Lynn Austin to investigate withdrawing the library from the AMY system, a maneuver that would give the commission total control of the Yancey library.
The commission’s vote this June began the process of withdrawal, which will be complete in June 2025. Three of the five commissioners are up for reelection in November.
AMY Regional Board member Frank Hughes said Monday evening that AMY owns 80% of the Yancey library’s books and all of its computers. At the meeting, Austin reassured commissioners that funding would be forthcoming after the withdrawal from AMY, but gave few details, and library supporters believe the withdrawal will devastate the library’s assets and ability to serve the public.
Pictured:
— The table in the library where last year’s Pride display was placed, on the other side of the building from the children’s section. Detractors said the display was targeting children. (See a picture of the display in the CPP link below)
— The two books featured in the display, “The Savvy Ally” and “They/Them/Their,” are now shelved in the adult non-fiction section
— Frank Hughes speaking to the crowd
Media coverage:
Citizen Times: Yancey commissioners take over library board, add 7 new members after June Pride display
Carolina Public Press: Yancey County Pride display sparks wider debate over book bans and LGBTQ representation in libraries
WLOS: Yancey Co. Commission seeking state’s help in removing library from region system
Minutes of Special Meeting in which the commission unanimously voted to withdraw the library from the regional system:
Statement from AMY Director Amber Westall Briggs:
https://www.amyregionallibrary.org/public-state-statement-by-amyrl-director
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