UPDATED: With the prospect of Macon County exiting the Fontana Regional Library system along with Jackson County, Swain County sued to stop the management organization’s distribution of surplus funds owed to its members.
On Thursday, the Smoky Mountain News reported that Superior Court Judge Tessa Sellers granted Swain an injunction, until June 29, to stop the disbursement of the funds. (Unfortunately, the SMN article reporting this has been removed.)
Reporter Lily Levin quoted the order forbidding the FRL from “taking any action whatsoever, directly or indirectly, in furtherance of, pursuant to, or arising from the FRL board’s May 12, 2026 action authorizing or directing the distribution, transfer, disbursement, allocation, or conveyance of funds or assets to Jackson County, Macon County, and or/Swain County, pending further Order of the Court.”
The order further “restrains and enjoins the defendant, pending a future court order, from ‘distributing, transferring, assigning … directly or indirectly, any funds or monies whatsoever’ to any of the three partner counties.”
This specific issue of distributing surplus funds owed to the counties is the subject of a pending meeting Monday, June 22 at 4 p.m. hosted at the Macon County Library.
How this court order impacts that meeting, Macon’s decision to potentially exit, or future operations of the library is unknown.
Warren Cabe, Macon’s county manager, said it’s too early to judge the injunction’s impact, “We are aware of the filing but have no further information or comment at this point.”
Macon Sense reached out to the FRL director’s office for comments. We will update this story with any response.
To read the entire Smoky Mountain News article, click here.
Possible breakup
According to its website, the FRL was created in 1944 when the Tennessee Valley Authority sponsored a regional bookmobile to visit the most remote areas of Jackson, Macon, and Swain Counties. Over 75 years later, Fontana Regional Library has coordinated a wide range of public library services for its member libraries in the three counties.
Controversy erupted several years ago when parents and community leaders objected to library displays including LGBTQ+ books containing controversial content and images. The firestorm resulted in conservative county leadership undertaking efforts to change the individual library board memberships and increase scrutiny of the FRL management practices.
In 2023, the FRL board made efforts to enhance child safety focusing on unattended children and background checks for employees. A month before, Macon County began a review into the FRL’s management of the local libraries spanning the last 10 years.
Then in the spring of 2025, Jackson County commissioners discussed whether exiting the FRL was a move worth considering. In June, they voted to make that move. Their exit takes effect this year on June 30.
With Jackson’s exit, local commissioners worried that funding for the FRL would largely rely on Macon County taxpayers.
According to the FRL, its 2025/2026 budget totaled over $4.1 million with funding from the state, supporting groups and the three member counties. Macon appropriated $1.22 million.
In anticipation of Jackson’s exit, the FRL 2026/2027 budget is projected to be $2.8 million. According to Cabe, FRL requested $1.6 million from Macon and the county appropriated $1.24 million.
Stating that the loss of Jackson would unfairly burden the county, the Macon commissioners voted 4-1 to notify the FRL of the county’s intentions to exit. With the notification, commissioners stated that the procedure would take effect in June 2027 giving the county time to evaluate whether it will actually exit or not.