County and Samuels Library Come to Agreement on a Path Forward

After months of controversy and heightened animosity between opposing sides of the public and unclear and mixed messaging from the county’s elected officials, on Tuesday evening, October 3, the Warren County Board of Supervisors completed what appears to have been a two-day final approval process of a funding and operational agreement between the county government and the Samuels Public Library Board of Trustees.

A first look indicates that the library will retain operational control and appointment authority of its Board of Trustees with advisory input from the county’s elected officials. The library board and staff’s efforts in moving a majority of books in question by the Clean Up Samuels (CUS) group to an older age section was cited in the County’s decision to maintain the public library operational and funding agreement in essentially the same format as has previously existed in recent decades, even into the last century. The library board and staff also instituted additional parental controls over what material children are authorized to access, read, or check out of the library. These moves appeared to rise to the “good faith negotiation” standard cited by supervisors, prominently state delegate candidate Delores Oates.

The County-Library Memorandum Of Agreement (MOA) was added to the agenda for a vote at the meeting’s outset shortly after 7 p.m. The library MOA vote was added as the evening’s first item of business. The re-worked MOA was submitted by the County to the Library Board of Trustees last week. The Samuels Library Board of Trustees unanimously approved the re-worked MOA at a Special Meeting on Monday evening, October 2.

The Warren County supervisors ponder the future of the county’s relationship with its public library. They must have seen the number of new cardholders (2,035) in the last fiscal year, compared to critics (cited at about 100), in backing off its initial MOA negotiation effort to gain appointment control of a majority of the current 501(c)(3) Samuels Library Board of Trustees.

Perhaps ironically due to his role in forwarding requests for book removals on behalf of constituents and ostensibly also on behalf of the county board of supervisors, an attribution he again cited as a mistake on his part last night, Jerome “Jay,” Butler made the motion to approve the new MOA fully funding the library through this fiscal year and apparently the next. The Funding Agreement states: “The period of performance shall commence upon the date of this Agreement and end on June 30, 2025.” It also notes: “This Agreement will automatically renew for one-year terms beginning July 1 and ending June 30 from year to year unless notice of non-renewal is provided by the County or the Library at least ninety days prior to any current term expiration date.”

Agreement and a sigh of relief

Butler’s motion was seconded by Walt Mabe and passed on a unanimous roll call vote. Wednesday morning, the joint press release was issued on behalf of Samuels Library through the McGuire Woods Consulting LLC of Richmond. In that release, both county and library officials expressed gratitude for what both appear to see as a positive resolution of the recent public controversy:

“This is a positive outcome for all Warren County residents,” said Melody Hotek, president of the library’s trustee board, adding, “We would like to thank the Warren County Board Supervisors for listening to citizen input and negotiating in good faith to reach a workable solution that benefits the entire community.”

‘This is a positive outcome for all Warren County residents,’ current Library Board of Trustee President Melody Hotek, above left with Acting Library Director Eileen Grady, said of the jointly approved funding and operational MOA. Below, county board Chairman Vicky Cook concurred, saying, ‘I am pleased that Warren County Board of Supervisors and the Samuels Library Board of Trustees have come to an agreement that will continue our partnership of providing an outstanding library service to our community.’

In the release, Board Chairman and Fork District representative Vicky Cook commented, “I am pleased that Warren County Board of Supervisors and the Samuels Library Board of Trustees have come to an agreement that will continue our partnership of providing an outstanding library service to our community.”

Often emotional public comments and thanks

Following approval of the new MOA funding and operational agreement, the meeting went to Public Comments. Eight speakers rose prior to the 7:30 p.m. move to scheduled public hearings. All spoke in support of the library against the CUS effort led largely by self-identified Christendom College-connected Catholics to remove books with supportive references to LGBTQ sexual identity issues as “pornographic.”

Kelsey Lawrence became emotional in recalling the rallying of supporters of Samuels Public Library in reaction to the attack orchestrated by what is estimated at 100 or so conservative religious activists opposing positive or even neutral references to alternate sexual identity lifestyles in library book content, particularly in younger reader sections.

Several speakers became highly emotional, recounting their experiences related to this public issue and thanked the board for its vote appearing to resolve the issue and “saving” the County’s relationship with its 501(c)(3) public library. Despite CUS critic complaints, the municipal government/501(c)(3) public library partnership appears to be a fairly common one in Virginia.

See all the board discussions and votes on the library funding agreement and Public Comments on the library situation in the first half hour of the County video link below. Some additional comments are heard during board member reports following the meetings’ three public hearings. See the entire joint Press Release and Memorandum Of Agreement as linked below. The joint press release includes a brief history of the library and its recent operations and level of public participation and use, perhaps giving a hint at why the board has moved as it has to resolve this situation with what they have discovered is a very valued and long-tenured community asset.

Click here to watch the Board of Supervisors meeting of October 3, 2023.

Click here to read the agreement.

Warren County Board of Supervisors and Samuels Public Library Sign Library Funding Agreement