Stafford wants private opinion on libraries, could leave regional system

The Stafford County Board of Supervisors will start looking into new options that would give it more control over its local libraries.

The county recently withheld a portion of the $5.4 million of funding it gives annually to the Central Rappahannock Regional Library System due to its not reopening when library systems in surrounding counties began to reopen.

“There are many people who don’t have any internet at home, who need to work and study and are hurting because the libraries are not open,” stated Falmouth Supervisor Meg Bohmke, who also serves on the Library Board of Directors.

With the library’s plans to begin reopening on October 12, the Board of Supervisors decided to release the second-quarter funds as well as CARES Act money that was earmarked for the library, about $70,000.

The regional library system also includes Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania County, and Westmoreland County. Stafford pays the largest amount to the library system at a price tag of $5.4 million, Spotsylvania is second at $4.6 million while Fredericksburg spends $1.5 million.

Boehmke said that the county was being taken advantage of due to this disparity in voting power in spite of being the largest funder of the system.

While it pays the lion’s share of the funding, Stafford only has two votes on the library’s board of trustees which is the same number of votes that Spotsylvania and Fredericksburg have despite offering less funding to the system. Westmoreland only has one vote.

Options discussed by the board to improve their issues with the library system included a renegotiation of the agreement with the library that has been in place and untouched since 1993, as well as an update to the board of trustees bylaws.

Another option is to perform an assessment on the performance of the Stafford libraries which could potentially offer solutions on how to improve the system. Manassas Park had a similar assessment made by Library Systems and Services which resulted in the city leaving the Prince Willaim County Library System, where it had been a member since 1979. own system. Library Systems and Services have offered to make the assessment for the County for free.

Rock Hill Supervisor Crystal Vaunch suggested that the County could leave their current library system and privatise a new one in its place.

Griffis-Widewater Supervisor Tinesha Allen was in favor of an assessment since it could be useful as a leverage tool for possible negotiations with the library system to rewrite the agreement, she said.

Hartwood Supervisor Gary Snelling wasn’t not in favor of privatizing the libraries but was receptive to the assessment.

The Board of Supervisors decided to add this issue to the agenda for the next board meeting which will occur on October 20.