Rising Tensions, Conflicting Realities Precede County Vote to Restart Library Funding, Operational Talks From Scratch

After a 5 p.m. Closed Session during which “library services” was one of two topics, the other being the cost of “Recruitment services for the County Administrator position” poised to be filled with Ed Daley’s looming retirement, and a brief 9-minute work session starting 20 minutes late (6:20 p.m. to 6:29 p.m.) devoted to the offering of tax breaks to potential Industrial property developers, the Warren County Board of Supervisors faced its regular meeting agenda of March 4, 2025, after a half-hour recess.

That agenda, as readers will recall from our preview of the meeting, was highlighted by initial recommendations on negotiating strategies with Samuels Public Library from the County’s recently formed, supervisors-appointed Warren County Library Board (WCLB). At the 1:13:58 mark of the linked County video that County Library Board Chairman Eric Belk was introduced to present his board’s case on recommendations the existing funding agreement with Samuels Public Library be cancelled to allow for open bidding from other potential library vendors or altered conditions surrounding Samuels continued operation of the county’s public library should the county’s elected officials decide on that path.

After much discussion and several gaveled threats by Chairman “Jay” Butler to have the room cleared due to the packed crowd’s reactions to various comments, at the 2:08:57 linked video mark Richard Jamieson’s motion to not renew the existing 2023 Funding Agreement with Samuels Library passed by the anticipated 4-1 vote, South River Supervisor Cheryl Cullers dissenting.

As previously reported, Samuels is Virginia’s current 2024 Library of the Year and is a contracted non-profit 501-C3 that’s history dates to its 1799 approval as Virginia’s second chartered public library.

Despite Library officials’ denials, WCLB Chairman Eric Belk expanded on his Feb. 26 allegations of Samuels Library Board of Trustees violations of the existing 2023 Funding Agreement with the County. Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini

Belk’s highly aggressive and accusatory summary of Samuels Library actions continued Tuesday evening. Belk reiterated his February 26 WCLB meeting allegation of an alleged “secret meeting” of the Samuels Library Board of Trustees a week after the county supervisors voted to create their appointed library board. He also asserted that county tax revenue has been spent on the acquisition of Samuels Library assets such as furniture or other items housed in the interior of the County-owned Samuels Library building and grounds. Library officials have said that the great bulk of its assets are purchased with library patron donations, as opposed to county tax revenue. (Note: Royal Examiner will publish a response to Belk’s comments and Supervisor Richard Jamieson’s PowerPoint support of those comments by Samuels officials in a coming related article.)

Belk’s presentation followed Phase One of the meeting’s Public Comments on items on the meeting’s agenda. At the linked video mark of 24:55 “Save Samuels” President Samantha Good led off the first 9 speakers of what appeared to grow to 20 pro-Samuels speakers on the evening through a Public Comments continuation near the meeting’s end. Twenty-first and final speaker of the evening, County Planning Commission Vice-Chairman Hugh Henry, focused on another topic, the advisability of the supervisors recent splitting of Public Comments into two sections, the final one coming near the meeting’s end.

Unanimous Public Support for Samuels Library

In opening the strong Public Comments show of support for Samuels Library from speakers in the the Warren County Government Center main meeting room Good opened by countering WCLB Chairman Belk’s previously expressed claims about a December Samuels Board of Trustees “secret meeting” describing its advertisement by state Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) guidelines before noon on December 13, 2024, for the December 17 meeting.

Pro-Samuels Public Library signs out front of the WCGC prior to the start of Tuesday’s meeting. Shortly before the 7 p.m. start of Tuesday’s regular meeting, Samuels Library supporters had packed the meeting room.

“This fully complies with the requirements for public meetings. And therefore Samuels is not in breach of the Library Funding Agreement as has been claimed by Mr. Belk,” Good said pointedly of what would soon be heard again from Belk.

Good also noted that former board Chairman Cheryl Cullers had been invited to the December 17th Special Meeting of the Samuels Board of Trustees, hardly making it a secret meeting. “However, I want to clarify that Ms. Cullers was invited in her capacity as a member of the Board of Trustees. Samuels is not under any obligation to directly invite the Board of Supervisors to its meetings, as it is governed independently,” Good pointed out.

“Now I turn to the more pressing matter at hand, the motion set forth by the Warren County Library Board on February 26, which is supposed to severely undermine the longstanding Public-Private Partneship between Warren County and Samuels Public Library,” Good began, adding, “For nearly 50 years Samuels has operated successfully as a Public-Private Partnership. Warren County has provided partial funding while Samuels has managed operations, secured grants and insured that our community has access to books, programs, and resources necessary for personal and educational growth.

“But now the Warren County Library Board and Board of Supervisors are seeking to end this partnership and seize direct control of library operations. These motions are a direct attempt to dismantle a successful partnership and seize control of the institution that has long been a cornerstone of our community.

First Public Comments speaker, ‘Save Samuels’ President Samantha Good, gave a broad overview of supporters’ perspectives on the issues at play, and the allegations being made by WCLB Chair Eric Belk to justify ending the County’s existing Funding Agreement, as well as the almost half-century Public-Private Partnership with Samuels Public Library.

“Samuels has flourished because of its independence. Because it is a community-driven institution that is not beholding to political interests. This independence has allowed the library to be a neutral space where all voices are welcomed and no political agenda takes precidence over the needs of the community.

“If this board of supervisors votes to proceed with these motions we will lose an independent library and gain one that is politically censored and controlled by those with an agenda. This does not reflect the diverse and vibrant community we serve. This isn’t just about finances or funding agreements. It’s about the freedom of our community to maintain an independent and unbiased library.

“If we let these motions pass we are not just jeopardizing books, we are jeopardizing the core values of access, education, and community,” the Save Samuels president concluded with a quick turn from the podium and the four of five supervisors she perceived not listening to her or the other pro-library voiced to come.

Opening a second round of Public Comments Carol Olson took a more personal perspective on the importance of Samuels Public Library to her family, which includes two autistic boys. ‘The library is invaluable to our family. And we urge you and plead with you to keep it fully funded,’ Olson told the supervisors.

No speakers appeared in support of the WCLB recommended agenda at either Public Comments section, the second beginning with Carol Olson (2:14:15 video mark). Olson told the supervisors that Samuels Library, with its myriad programs serving a wide range of county citizens, had “been a real Godsend” to her two sons, who suffer from autism.

“The library is invaluable to our family. And we urge you and plead with you to keep it fully funded. Thank you,” Olson concluded.

Hear, not only these two but the other emotional, personal, and perceptive perspectives of a community gathering to protect a long valued locally and regionally respected institution. As noted above those Public Comments begin with Samantha Good at the 24:55 video mark and Carol Olson’s at the 2:14:15 video mark.

The lone supervisor standing with the retention of Samuels Library under its existing conditions is Cheryl Cullers. Cullers, who as board chairman recently came off a year as the County representive on the Samuels Board of Trustees, offered her perspective in support of a motion to table a vote on the submitted motion in favor of sending the matter out to a county-wide voter referendum. She got no support in that regard from her colleagues. Cullers perspective on the library issue and pending motions begin, most notably at the 1:41:40 and 1:45:44 marks of the linked video.

South River’s Cheryl Cullers, far left, is the lone county elected official supporting Virginia’s Library of the Year for renewal of its existing contract. And Cullers, like most if not all library supporters, expressed severe skepticism at the contention funding parameters and financial oversight are the board majority’s real motivation in moving away from the County’s Public-Private Partnership with Samuels.

And, also as noted above, the other side’s perspective start with WCLB Chair Belk at 1:13:58 video mark. The other supervisors commented at various points, including the 1:39:42 mark, Stanmeyer; Cook, 1:48:00; Jamieson, 1:50:25.

And where do we go from here? It appears four of five supervisors feet are firmly on the accelerator toward destruction of the existing Public-Private Partnership with Samuels Public Library. As many in the crowd left the meeting following the 4-1 vote to end the existing funding argeement, shouts of “See you in November” and “Shame, Shame” echoed through the meeting room.

Click here to watch Warren County Board of Supervisors Meeting of March 4, 2024.

County Library Board Points the Way Toward an END of Samuels Public Library’s Future in Warren County