EVANS, Ga. () – The Columbia County Commission meeting is currently listening to feedback from residents who are concerned about the newly established Columbia County Library System. I had the opportunity to talk to some of these worried individuals.
Back in May, leaders in Columbia County revealed their plan to exit the Greater Clark’s Hill Library Region and establish their own single-county region, which means they would continue to participate in the state library season.
There are concerns being raised about the fact that commissioners are opting not to appoint anyone to the new board they’re forming and what implications this might have for the future of the library’s book collection.
“So, they just created a shell of a board. So, what that does is they’ve just canceled all public meetings regarding the library for the next 6 months,” said Karin Parham, CEO of Freedom to Read Coalition Columbia County. “So, the only reason I could think for them to do that is so that they can establish policies without having to have public meetings, and they can do that behind closed doors. So that way, they don’t have to have any public input.”
This new system will not go into effect until January 1st of next year, but some who attended the meeting tell me that they will continue to attend county commission meetings to have their voices heard.
“We go to the library for peace, for discovery, for quiet,” said Marlena Bergeron, a concerned citizen. “We go for fantastic enriching. We go to the library for a lot of different wonderful programs, and they have been our family since we moved here.”
Columbia County denied an interview but provided a statement that states.
“As part of the transition from the Greater Clarks Hill Regional Library System to the Columbia County Library System, the Columbia County Library Advisory Board is being dissolved effective immediately to streamline governance and eliminate overlap since the regional board is the sole board authorized to make decisions under state law. While the new system won’t go into effect until January 1, 2026, patrons still have the full ability to go before the current regional library board between now and the end of the year to share input, raise concerns, and be heard.”
Overall, the people I spoke to told me they just want the librarians to be able to decide what books are in the library and where they should be placed.
