Jackson County’s library focus groups came together last Wednesday (Jan. 19) for their first joint meeting with the intent of organizing two committees — one to raise funds for the construction of the new library, another to work on designing that library.

That mission was not accomplished.

When members of several fractured library organizations came together at a Jackson County board meeting last month to present a united front, commissioners charged the group with creating two committees to immediately begin work moving the library project forward. Library Board Chairman Howard Allman consequently called a joint meeting to be held at the Sylva library for anyone interested in the project.

On Wednesday, about 25 residents from across the county including the Friends of the Library and the Library Board spent about 90 minutes discussing esoteric concepts for building the new library such as a design party for children to draw pictures of what they think the library should look like, establishing a realistic budget and soliciting multicultural input.

But it wasn’t until Friends of the Library President Linda Young spoke up — saying that the group needed to stop talking and start doing — that any attention was directed to the formation of the two committees.

“You have to make a decision,” Young said.

Some, including City Lights Bookstore owner Joyce Moore, expressed hesitation about forming committees, saying that the group was not yet ready.

Sylva resident Milt Wofford disagreed, saying the committees that were formed didn’t have to be completely separate from one another and that the simple act of forming committees wouldn’t hinder communication.

Allman agreed with Wofford, noting that the group was behind in its task of committee formation. The deadline imposed by commissioners is the end of January.

In the end, group members committed only to a show of hands for those who might be interested in working on either design or fund raising or both. A list of those who indicated a preference is available at www.newjackson-library.com. The group’s next meeting has been set for 6 p.m., Feb. 2, at the Sylva Library.

— By Sarah Kucharski