Where do we go from here after library board was removed?

ASHEBORO — With the removal of the current Randolph County Public Library Board of Trustees, the immediate future will likely see a new board and rewritten bylaws.

The Randolph County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 on Dec. 8 to remove the current Library Board members after complaints from the public that the board refused to move or remove a children’s book titled “Call Me Max,” which addressed questions of gender.

County Commissioner chair Darrell Frye said on Dec. 11 that there will be new board members appointed and that the bylaws governing the board’s action will be rewritten as part of a legal process.

The new bylaws, Frye said, “will address the length of terms and the total terms” that a board member can serve. Also, he said, it’s probable that there will be a commissioner serving on the Library Board.

Frye said most if not all other advisory boards in the county have a commissioner attending their meetings. The current Library Board did not have a commissioner and there were no term limits.

“We want a balance with the seven libraries in the county,” he said, adding that the nine-member board would likely have two at-large members, one each from Asheboro and Archdale, the largest municipalities in the county.

Although the details of the appointment process are being worked out, Frye said it’s been suggested that the commissioners take applications for the Library Board. But he said that has not been determined yet. Also, would the commissioner on the board be a voting or non-voting member?

“It was not to remove the book but for the appropriate place for the book,” Frye said of the controversy. The fear was that such a topic for young children would be confusing to them, he said.

As for the new board’s approach to library books, he said it “would make a decision on the proper place (with future questionable books). There will certainly be closer scrutiny.

“Taking a book out of the library doesn’t ban the book.”

Tentatively, the next scheduled meeting of the Randolph County Public Library Board of Trustees is Thursday, Jan. 16, 2026, at 4 p.m. Meetings are held at the Asheboro Public Library.