Commissioners pull nominations for library board from agenda

ASHEBORO — Randolph County commissioners pulled a vote on seven library board nominees from Monday’s agenda, leaving unanswered questions about a selection process that critics said lacked transparency.

The nominees’ names surfaced publicly for the first time in a memo attached to the June 1 County Commissioners agenda item to appoint them to the empty board as part of the consent agenda — a surprise to residents who had seen no public notice of open positions and no information about how to apply.

County Manager Zeb Holden said the appointments were pulled from Monday’s agenda to allow a full board to be seated at once. Two seats — representing the Ramseur and Franklinville branches — remain un-nominated. A nominee for the Ramseur seat was withdrawn after the nomination lacked support from three commissioners.

No date has been set for the appointments vote.

Commissioners dissolved the previous Randolph County Library Board of Trustees following a dispute over “Call Me Max,” a children’s picture book featuring a transgender protagonist. A resident formally challenged the book, initially seeking it be moved to a different area of the library or removed altogether. The library director reviewed the challenge under the library’s reconsideration policy and recommended the book remain in the children’s section. The patron appealed to the Library Board of Trustees, which voted 5-2 in October 2025 to uphold that decision.

In December, commissioners voted 3-2 to dissolve the entire board, arguing the trustees no longer represented the values of the community.

When commissioners adopted new bylaws for the reconstituted board in March, Holden acknowledged at the time that the informal system — relying on a general interest form and personal recommendations from staff and commissioners — had run its course. “That has worked till it hasn’t,” Holden told commissioners, “and we’re at the point where it hasn’t.”

Holden described what a better process might look like — “almost like a job application.” Commissioner David Allen agreed, arguing a wider search would produce better candidates.

“The more participation you can get, the more options you have, the better qualifications you’re going to get, the better board you’re going to get,” Allen said.

Jennifer Eagle, a Seagrove resident with a library degree and years of volunteer experience, raised the same concerns in March during the public comment period. “Can you share with us the process you will use to search for candidates and the criteria you’ll use to evaluate them?” she asked. “Are members of the public invited to apply?”

Eagle said following that meeting she reached out to Commissioner Lester Rivenbark on April 1, asking for information on how to apply, but never received a response. She said a friend contacted the county manager to track down the county’s common interest form.

Until recently, Holden said, the county’s interest form was a Word document or PDF shared only upon request. It has since been converted to an online form.

At local libraries, no notices went up. Randolph County Public Library Director Ross Holt said he received nothing from the county to post about the openings and had been directing interested residents to a general interest form on the county website ... which makes no mention that commissioners were seeking residents to fill nine empty board seats. Other library staff said they were made aware the seats were “coming open” in a recent meeting but received no further information.

On Monday night, Eagle again addressed commissioners, at the public comment period at the end of the meeting.

“If you expect all interested members of the public to find out on their own that an application form exists, then go to the county website, then click on boards and committees menu under government, and finally get to the link for the application form — it almost makes it seem like you don’t want us to find that form and fill it out, regardless of the qualifications we have,” she said.

Holden, responding to questions Wednesday, said all county board appointments draw from that common interest form, that no application window was established, and that no minimum qualifications were required beyond geographic representation. “Outside of geographic representation of the County, these documents have not stipulated specific qualifications,” Holden wrote in an email.

In a followup phone call, Holden acknowledged the geographic requirement itself was loosely defined, saying the intention was simply that nominees would likely frequent the library they represent.

Allen, who voted against the board’s dissolution in December, said the county fell short. “We, as a county, could have done a better job given the circumstances,” Allen said. “I’m not surprised that little attention has been given to the application process.” He added that as a minority voice on the board, his suggestions are often not considered.

While the memo revealed seven nominees, it contained no information about their qualifications or why they had been selected. An initial review of their publicly available backgrounds found little library experience among them. Cindy Garrett of Liberty is president of the Liberty Arts Guild and a Liberty town library board member. Steven Watson of Randleman is a retired physical education teacher now working with Communities in Schools. The remaining nominees’ backgrounds reflect church and community involvement but no apparent library or collection management experience.