A member of the county’s governing board may have opened a whole card catalog’s worth of controversy with the suggestion that the county should divest itself from funding the local library system.
County commissioner Ed Priola set off this potential powder keg on Monday when he proposed a “phased separation” between the county and its libraries as he and his fellow commissioners were winding down their latest regularly-scheduled meeting.
“There are some choices that need to be made between nice to haves, important to haves, and critical things. . . and I think we consider a phased separation. . . and returning it to the municipalities.”
– County commissioner Ed Priola
Priola told his colleagues that, for him, this potential parting of ways is largely a matter of fiscal priorities.
“We pay $3.5 million for four libraries and two mobile units. We’re employing 62 employees,” the commissioner explained when he pitched the idea. “There are some choices that need to be made between nice to haves, important to haves, and critical things…and I think we consider a phased separation…and returning it to the municipalities.”
Priola’s proposal would, if approved by the rest of the board, mark a significant departure from the way that the local library system has traditionally been organized.
For many years, the system has operated as a joint venture between the county and its municipalities, which provide buildings to house the system’s individual branches while the county picks up the tab to operate them. The county’s current annual budget earmarks $3.8 million for these operations – which is a bit more than Priola had estimated although less than 2 percent of the $225 million that comes out of the county’s general fund.
At the moment, the county is responsible for the operations of four branch libraries – one, each, in Mebane and Graham; a third at Burlington’s North Park; and May Memorial, the system’s flagship branch, in Burlington’s downtown business district.
Priola’s plan to dissolve the county’s ties to these libraries comes barely two weeks since the commissioners signed off on a couple of policy changes for the county’s library system. These changes include a new set of procedures that allows the library system’s staff to review books and other materials that patrons deem inappropriate for children. The system’s staff is further authorized to place “parental guidance” labels on items they agree are ill-suited for young readers.
Priola ultimately joined his fellow commissioners in approving the new “parental guidance” labels, although he argued that they don’t go far enough in safeguarding children and recommended that books judged inappropriate should be moved to inaccessible locations.
Priola made no mention of these new “PG” labels when he suggested the county’s disentanglement from the library system on Monday. Yet, the board’s role in this decision wasn’t lost on commissioner Kelly Allen, who observed that the county would relinquish its control over library policy should it distance itself from the system’s operations.
To Priola, however, the proposed separation was mainly about the bottom line – a focus echoed by John Paisley, Jr., the chairman of Alamance County’s commissioners. In fact, Paisley conceded that he and Priola had compared notes about the library system’s expense prior to the junior commissioners proposal on Monday.
“And $3.5 million is a lot of money,” the board’s chairman added. “Libraries are extremely important. But we have to have a priority system for where we put our dollars.”
Priola, for his part, insisted that the county’s primary obligation should be public safety rather than cultural activities. He went on to fault certain municipalities – and in particular, the city of Burlington – for allegedly devaluing public safety in favor of things like “pickleball courts, aquatic entertainment centers and theater reconstructions.”
Priola proceeded to blast Burlington for bowing out of a consolidated 9-1-1 center that the county is currently setting up within the city’s municipal limits. Burlington, which maintains a separate bank of 9-1-1 operators for itself and the city of Graham, had initially agreed to join this consolidated facility after the county received $15 million in state funds to pursue the endeavor. The city has since reassessed that decision due to disputes over building security as well as the county’s repeated requests for funds as the project’s price tag has exceeded the state’s allocation.
Priola’s critique of Burlington’s contrasting priorities didn’t go over well with commissioner Pam Thompson.
“You really need to be careful about how you’re trying to take over [addressing Priola]. “You can’t get p—ed off about that and a pickle ball court and want to take books out of the hands of children. . . Listen, I’ve got opinions too, but I’m not going to force them on people because I don’t like something.” – County commissioner Pam Thompson
“You really need to be careful about how you’re trying to take over,” Thompson scolded her fellow Republican for his apparent high-handedness. “You can’t get p—ed off about that and a pickle ball court and want to take books out of the hands of children…Listen, I’ve got opinions too, but I’m not going to force them on people because I don’t like something.”
Thompson’s objections left quite a conundrum for Steve Carter, the vice chairman of Alamance County’s commissioners.
“I don’t know what the right answer is,” he told the rest of the board. “I don’t think any of us can unequivocally say we have the right answer…Our job is to do the best for our citizens.”
“I’m not advocating at any point that we do away with the libraries. My question is. . . are we spending too much money on the library system?. . . Pretty much everybody here has said we don’t want to increase our tax rate. So, we’re going to have to make some cuts.”
– County commissioner chairman John Paisley, Jr.
Meanwhile, Paisley insisted that he’d concur with “pretty much” everything that Thompson had said – albeit “with less volume.” The board’s chairman went on to distinguish between the city’s and county’s spheres of influence before arguing that the commissioners ought to be laser-focused on county’s own financial responsibilities as they dig into their next annual budget.
“I’m not advocating at any point that we do away with the libraries,” he added. “My question is…are we spending too much money on the library system?…Pretty much everybody here has said we don’t want to increase our tax rate. So, we’re going to have to make some cuts.”
