Buncombe County library director: state aid preserved, Swannanoa branch land purchase and other projects in FY27 plan

Jason, the Buncombe County library system’s lobby director, told the Library Advisory Board that the recently passed state budget did not cut state aid for public libraries and moved five core NC Cardinal positions from federal LSTA funds to state funding, reducing the system’s exposure to potential federal funding cuts.

The change to NC Cardinal funding, Jason said, ‘‘is a really strong indicator that our legislature recognizes the value of NC Cardinal and cares about it.’’ He framed the shift as a stability measure for the regional cataloging and shared‑services consortium.

Jason reviewed several capital and operational items on the county’s FY27 capital improvement plan. He said the PAC Library is slated for an elevator replacement (the current lift dates to 1979), the South Buncombe Library is listed for modest renovation to improve staff workflow and incoming materials handling, and land purchase and associated design costs for a new Swannanoa library and government complex were approved for FY27 with construction penciled for FY28 if the project proceeds as planned.

On programming and access, Jason highlighted the library system’s first system‑wide adult summer reading program and noted a roughly 10% increase in Wi‑Fi sessions systemwide year‑over‑year, which he framed as evidence of libraries’ role as an essential connectivity point. He also reported strong engagement with the system’s 1 Book 1 Buncombe program and said the advisory board will be invited to help plan the 2027 edition.

Staffing updates included final recruitment stages for a branch manager at Skyland/South Buncombe, approval and posting of a new full‑time library social worker position to be based at PAC Library and serve the system, and small increases in part‑time hours for Special Collections. Jason said the county has engaged a firm to conduct a classification and compensation study, beginning with department head questionnaires and offering staff a chance to complete position‑specific questionnaires.

Votes at a glance
• Approval of March meeting minutes (motion carried; correction noted in new business that a senior county attorney presentation by Susan Susanna should have been listed).
• Motion to enter executive session (motion carried; board entered executive session).

The board moved into executive session at the meeting’s close; no public details from that session were presented in the transcript.