Facing Light Action Agenda County’s Elected Officials Get a Public Outpouring Against Samuels Library Takeover Initiative

While it may have been an unusually light November 19 action agenda with no public hearings scheduled following a two-hour Closed/Executive Session discussion focused on real or potential EDA-related litigation, County Finance Board re-organization, and the Agreement with Page County for landfill services, Warren County’s elected officials got an action earful during Public Comments on non-agenda items. That earful heard 20 of 21 speakers berate the board in general, and Richard Jamieson in particular for his role in attempting to gain the County operational control of independent, non-profit contracted Samuels Public Library away from its self-appointed Board of Trustees under a widely questioned analysis of fiduciary responsibility.

What do the library annual budget numbers really indicate a number of public speakers asked, noting contradictory conclusions to those of a sub-committee report summarized by Jamieson at a November 12 joint supervisors/planning commission work session.

It was a large and charged crowd awaiting the start of Tuesday night’s BOS meeting. Below, Lisa Jenkins confronted the board about the alleged fiduciary responsibility argument to justify transferring Library Board of Trustee appointment authority over to county officials. Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini

“You say you are concerned about the costs of Samuels? It’s only 1% of the County budget, but you seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time picking it apart,” Public Comments speaker Lisa Jenkins (26:12 linked County video mark) asserted to the board, adding, “From all the data the Library Board gave you, you cherry-picked data that suited your bias. If you had used all the data provided to you, including costs for libraries and communities of similar size to Samuels, you would see that Samuels is right in line with its peers in Virginia.”

Jenkins closed with a troubling variable, “Note: If you reduce the County budget for Samuels at all, the matching state funding will completely disappear, so please don’t do that – not a good idea.”

Earlier in her comments, Jenkins observed, “Samuels offers an amazing collection for all ages and interests. For all their good work, Samuels, the Library Board Chair, and Friends of Samuels Library (FOSL) all won Virginia Library Association (VLA) awards last year. A small library in rural Virginia doesn’t win awards by being run badly!”

We will again note here that Samuels, as Jenkins noted the current Virginia Library of the Year, is the second oldest public library in the commonwealth, its charter dating to 1799. Another recurring theme of pro-library, leave it as it is speakers was, “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?” Some answered their own question pointing to a suspected continuation of last year’s censorship and operational control effort launched by a largely self-identified religious minority group attempting to dictate what subject matter should be available in the community’s library. That effort centered on an anti-LGBTQ theme and availability in some youth sections.

And while it has repeatedly been pointed out by Royal Examiner, among others, that rather than an alternate sexual identity “recruitment effort” targeting the community’s youth as often expressed by the “Clean Up Samuels” group, the material available in youth sections appears to be an effort to help youth reaching puberty with their own internally generated alternative sexual identity issues to avoid suicidal impulses from not fitting into the cultural mainstream.

An angry Stevi Hubbard questioned the board’s humanity in tolerating a jump in youth suicides locally in the wake of last year’s public assault on library operations and content focused on the removal of LGBTQ-themed books many see as suicide prevention support material.

In fact, Public Comments Library supporter Stevi Hubbard (45:07 linked video mark)told the board that since last year’s censorship and operational control shift effort began, the suicide rate among that community’s youth had climbed 7%. And she pulled no punches in making her point against supervisors supporting policies continuing the effort to take over operational control of Samuels Library.

“I could come up here and try to appeal to your humanity and share with you that since these bigoted attacks started targeting the LGBTQ community that suicide rates among these children have jumped from 13% to 20%. But I know that won’t move you,” Hubbard said baring her gaze noddingly in Supervisor Jamieson’s direction.

Hubbard then questioned the alleged fiduciary responsibility Jamieson and his allies in the takeover of Library Board of Trustees appointment authority have claimed: “I’m here today to talk about the fiscal irresponsibility that you guys are exercising by even entertaining this idea. It’s 1% of our budget,” she pointed out of the approximately $1-million Operational Budget the County has covered in the County-owned building Samuels is now in. She then criticized the board’s leaving its surplus assets in a low-interest bank account while higher rate options are available. She pointed to the potential of a million dollars of interest earned a year on County surplus funds, noting that alone would fund Samuels Library’s annual operational budget as it stands.

Other speakers were equally scathing in their appraisal of what appears to be a three, if not four supervisor majority (Chairman Cullers the lone stated opponent at this point) ready to approve an ordinance amendment to enable a County-controlled Library Board to be created with library Trustee appointment authority.

Bentonville resident and county-born-and-raised Jarred Hill, aka Parson Brown, added a historical perspective to his critique (55:17 video mark): “Madam Chair, this board is a disgrace. But it didn’t start today. Since I was young I have watched the relentless efforts of a faction of religious zealots try to take control of our valley,” he began.

“I saw y’all coming. I don’t know when some of you decided to make the library your center of your agenda, and Mr. Jamieson, while I barely recognize you on the scale of things, you’re just the next guy riding a wave laid by those before you. A loud fish in a pond that never needed your noise.

“So I’ve been preparing for this confrontation my entire life. You complained last time I was here about the media and the narrative. And you know the international support for our library has made headlines because the cult-like movement you subscribe to is, indeed, appalling. So a few have seized just enough power to feel strong, but you’re misguided and frankly pathetic because this isn’t about helping the community, it’s about control. Control over what we read, what we learn, and how we live. That’s not being a good neighbor, that’s fascism as a matter of fact. And I’m just here to tell you that you will never own the narrative. You may take the library, you may even control the books, but you will never control the story of the Shenandoah Valley.

“So do your worst, because you’ve earned it,” Jarred Hill or Parson Brown as you prefer, seemed to challenge Jamieson and those who choose to “ride” with him into the history of the Shenandoah Valley being written last year, today, and tomorrow.

The board watches Jarred Hill leave the podium, perhaps on a flanking maneuver, after telling the board they will be marching down the wrong historical path if they proceed with the planned takeover of library operations or just drive Samuels out of business. John Lundberg, the 14th of 21 speakers, was the lone voice in support of increased County control of library operations and a corresponding decrease in operational funding.

One hour of Public Comments

Many other speakers were insightful from various perspectives, and we suggest readers view as much of the almost precisely one-hour Public Comments, including John Lundberg (38:00 video mark), who kept it from being a 20-0 whitewash against the creation of a County-controlled Library Board with Samuels Board of Trustee appointment authority. Public Comments begin at the 4:50 linked video mark, and ends at the 1:04:30 mark with 21st and final speaker Tom Howarth. Twenty-one speakers in just seconds under one hour isn’t bad under that three-minute maximum per speaker guideline.

Chairman Cheryl Cullers and Supervisor Richard Jamieson were not eye-to-eye on the library takeover initiative. Cullers pulled item J-8, authorization to advertise for public hearing the ordinance addition that would enable the creation of the supervisors-overseen Library Board, off the Consent Agenda. She said she did not support the initiative but didn’t want to vote against the other 9 Consent Agenda items due to her opposition to that one. She cast the lone vote of opposition to item J-8. Below, following the closing of Public Comments at 8:05 p.m. there was an exodus of many citizens from the meeting.

Readers interested in this issue should also catch North River District Supervisor Jamieson’s reaction to what he heard during Public Comments during his board member report. That portion of his remarks begins at the 1:24:12 county video mark and quickly segues into Jamieson claiming a victim’s role. His victimization claim is in being stereotyped by library supporters and/or the media for a perceived shared religious perspective with last year’s Clean Up Samuels group. Some wonder whether that is his driving motivation, as opposed to the fiduciary analysis his and Supervisor Vicky Cook’s two-person subcommittee pushed forward last week.

See coming related Royal Examiner story on the meeting’s four action items: approval of the Southfork RiverSide Campground; a move toward realignment of the County’s Finance Board; approval of a nine-item Consent Agenda; and a vote on one item removed from the Consent Agenda by Chairman Cullers, Authorization to Advertise for Public Hearing a vote on adding a County Ordinance Amendment to facilitate the creation of the Board-controlled Warren County Library Board intended to move Samuels Library Board of Trustee appointment authority over to the county supervisors.

Click here to watch the Warren County Board of Supervisors Meeting of November 19, 2024.