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In 2007, Josephine County Libraries (OR) shut its doors. Congress had failed to renew the Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, a program that paid counties in areas with declining federal forest revenue to help sustain their communities. That failure meant 33 Oregon counties saw their budgets fall by an estimated 230 million dollars, equivalent to about 359 million today.
Institutions like libraries took a brutal hit without the federal government’s replacement funds. Several counties elected to put a levy on local ballots to recapture some of those lost funds. The one in Josephine County, as well as neighboring Jackson County, failed; as is the case still today, that decision was made by only about 50% of the eligible electorate. Josephine County shuttered four of its libraries, including its main library in Grants Pass, on May 31, 2007.
It did not take too long for local citizens to step in. Local library advocates formed a nonprofit called Josephine Community Libraries, Inc. (JCLI), to fundraise to reopen their libraries by the end of 2008. The group worked to secure funds for the library’s operations, and the county offered matching funds up to $300,000. The county also offered an agreement that allowed them to lease the four libraries and their collections to JCLI for $1 a year. The lease stated that the inside of the libraries, including staffing and maintenance, would be the responsibility of JCLI. The county would maintain the outside of the libraries.
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Josephine County Libraries would operate as a public library via private donations and rely heavily on volunteers. This stood in contrast to neighboring Jackson County Libraries, among the early libraries who privatized their operations through Library Services & Systems (this is the same LS&S who has swooped in to contemporary libraries dealing with book censorship issues now, including Huntsville Public Library, where they’ve taken over, as well as Samuels Public Library and Huntington Beach Public Library, where similar attempts were staved off).
Despite their success in reopening the libraries, as the years passed, JCLI could not keep up with the demands on the library system. They could also not comply with public library standards via the Oregon Library Association.
A ballot measure to secure tax funding went to the public in 2014 and was defeated. So in 2017, the JCLI Board elected to do something different–they presented the idea of a noncontiguous library district in the county. Voters who’d initially supported funding the library would be within those boundaries, making that “yes” vote more liable. The Board was right in their action, and voters agreed to financially support the library’s annual budget, creating the Josephine County Library District (JCLD). Of note: those outside the noncontiguous district could use the library for a fee equivalent to the average taxpayer cost of those within the district, which is $.39 for every $1000 of assessed home value. Right now, that is $60 per year. This is a very common practice nationwide. What is less common is that the Josephine County Library Foundation offers scholarships for those outside the district but within the county, for those who cannot afford the fee. People can also get a library card if they volunteer a certain number of monthly hours.
All of this is historical context for what’s been happening over the last three years at JCLD, where local politicians have made baseless claims about the library to defund the institution.
In late 2023, the Josephine County Board of Commissioners (JCBC) permitted a local government critic and his wife to opt out of being part of the library’s taxing district. Mike Pelfrey and his wife, residents of Grants Pass–population of about 39,000–complained that they don’t benefit from the library and thus, shouldn’t have to pay for it. Their legal argument was that it wasn’t “feasible” for their property to be serviced by the library; the “feasibility” of a taxing district has to do with whether or not a property can secure services–in timber country, for example, a home built in a forest may not be “feasibly” to service with sewers. Thus, the property should be exempt from a sewer service taxing district.
The argument was preposterous, as library services, even in rural areas, are feasible–digital services are among the biggest ones provided by modern libraries. But it wasn’t about the logic of the argument or about truth at all. Pelfrey had just lost his bid for a seat on the library’s board. County Commissioners debated Pelfry’s petition, and two of the three voted to allow the Pelfreys to be removed from the district.
Those commissioners, Board Chair Herman Baertschiger and Commissioner John West, set a dangerous precedent for others within the district’s taxing boundaries, arguing that if the state statutes allow people to opt into the district, they should also be able to opt out. Just days later, voters recalled West from his position, but he would not cede his role until the election was certified–put a pin in this. West would also be directly involved in trying to get other property owners in the library’s taxing district to withdraw from it. He had it out for the library.
The library sued the county board over the decision, which the library district’s board president called an attempt to shut down the library by cleverly defunding the institution. A circuit court judge ordered the commissioners to stop their actions, and the lawsuit was settled in May 2024. County commissioners still planned to discuss the legal procedures around whether or not people could withdraw from a taxing district moving forward.
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JCLD’s main branch is in Grants Pass. Its age and size no longer meet the community’s needs, which grew by 5,000 between 2010 and 2020 alone. While the library has started to secure funding and land to build a new, bigger branch, the process will take years. In February 2024, JCLD received a chunk of change from the local Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe to support efforts in their expansion. As meaningful as that donation is, the $250,000 gift and other funds raised so far for the efforts–including the Library Foundation’s $1.9 million purchase of land in downtown Grants Pass–are drops in the bucket for the full project cost.
On December 19, 2024, Commissioner West–recall that he’s been recalled from his position at this point–requested a meeting with the JCLD director and library legal counsel for December 23. The meeting would be about the lease agreement for the Grants Pass library. Despite the library’s legal counsel stating that a meeting two days before a federal holiday was impossible, as stakeholders would be unavailable, West decided to hold the meeting anyway.
At least, he planned to. On December 23, he requested that the meeting be moved to January 6, another date that would not allow the library director, library legal counsel, or stakeholders time to attend. The unavailable parties proposed several other January dates for the meeting, but West kept the meeting for the 6th.
Three days before the meeting, the library made clear they could not be in attendance, but the meeting proceeded anyway. The timing is key here. West would be out of his role as Commissioner come January 14, despite already being recalled. Without the library present at the January 6 meeting, West, along with two newly-appointed county commissioners, Chris Barnett and Ron Smith, voted to terminate the lease of the Grants Pass library building in 30 days.
Recalled commissioner West claimed that they voted only to get the library to the bargaining table. He stated the library refused to meet with commissioners–a creative interpretation of the library and its legal counsel providing six different dates for all invested parties to be available that month. West also presented the idea of upping the rent for the Grants Pass building from $1 a year to $15,000 a month, a number he and everyone else knew would be impossible (and a number that reflected what relocating the library downtown would cost had the Foundation not already purchased land there with money they raised privately).
February rolled by. The future of the Grants Pass building had yet to be discussed, and the commissioners had not officially communicated about the letter terminating the library’s lease.
On March 13, the library finally learned that a meeting to discuss the lease terms will occur on March 21. That meeting was canceled the night before, March 20. Library officials learned about this via a screenshot of a social media post by Commissioner Barnett.
In early April, the District Library Board decided to write the commissioners a proposal for renewing their lease. The county’s legal counsel responded, noting that due to the possible need to shift some of the county’s services around, the library may need to put their materials in storage were they to be evicted. The county would help them secure storage space for such a move. The interaction doesn’t result in a response about the library’s proposed terms for the lease, nor does it lead to a response from county commissioners.
The District Library Board wrote commissioners again in early May and received silence.
The JCLD director finally met with Commissioner Barnett in late May, presenting the terms for a new lease. They would negotiate over the proposal until July. Remember: the Commissioners voted to evict the library in January with 30 days’ notice to “get the library to respond to them.” But after the director met with Commissioner Barnett in May, the Commissioners failed to discuss the library’s lease in several subsequent meetings.
West’s replacement, Commissioner Blech, finally shared on August 7 that their next meeting, one week later, would involve a public hearing about the library’s lease. However, unlike the standard practice of the meetings thus far, it would be presented after the weekly business session, rather than before.
This change was intentional.
Local library activists organized as the can continued to be kicked down the road. Grants Pass Friends of the Library, a nonprofit advocacy group, has been spreading the message within the community about how county commissioners have been pulling as many strings as possible to evict the library from its building. The Oregonian and Oregon Public Broadcasting covered the story in January this year, including an interview between Commissioner Barnett and Jennifer Roberts, President of the Grants Pass Friends of the Library. PBS also covered the story in March.
Commissioner Blech’s announcement of the new public discussion on the library’s lease left advocates in the lurch. Without any idea when the presentation would occur, they could not gather their support or provide accurate information. Despite the deliberate hurdle, supporters showed up en masse.
Once the public comment period ended on August 14, the vote on the library’s lease was set to occur. But Commissioner Blech made an announcement that changed the course of the meeting: he suddenly had another meeting to attend and needed to postpone the vote. Commissioner Barnett wanted to continue the meeting without his colleague and motioned to do so. Blech, confused, seconded the motion. At that point, Commissioner Barnett clarified that this would mean the vote would happen without Blech present, and Blech simply ended the meeting.
One week later, on August 21, it became clear that Commissioner Blech wanted to do precisely what his recalled predecessor did and approve the library’s lease with burdensome restrictions. The Commissioners voted to renew the library’s lease at the meeting with a significant addition: the county and the library would have the right to terminate the lease with 30 days’ notice.
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Imagine trying to plan programming for a community and ensuring that staff, materials, and marketing needs were met. It takes more than 30 days to prepare nearly any library program, let alone ensure that a community knows such programs are happening. This is true whether a library serves a community of 300 or, as in Grants Pass, a community of 39,000.
But that’s what such a lease agreement does. JCLD cannot plan anything more than 30 days in advance, as the county could terminate its lease anytime. Everything they do is now under the scrutiny of the county board, and any perceived missteps by the library mean that their lease could be terminated at a moment’s notice. The library doesn’t even need to do anything wrong to be evicted. Commissioners can allow a different department to have the building and kick the library out with a one-month notice.
The county doesn’t operate JCLD, so county oversight in this instance is a political overstep. The library has an independent library board, and its funds come from tax dollars that the library secured via the ballot in 2017. Such lease restrictions, though, turn the concept of the public library upside down, as the library now needs to first support the political whims of the county rather than the full needs of those who use and financially support the institution: the community.
JCLD didn’t accept the new lease terms for the above reasons. They countered, using the terms that the county has with another organization that rents a building from them at the cost of $1 per year: the local YMCA. The YMCA’s contract with Josephine County states they can only be evicted for cause. The proposed contract by the County Commissioners with the library would allow eviction for convenience.
Unlike the public library, the Y doesn’t serve the entire community freely but through membership fees. Monthly dues begin at $30 and go up to $93 for families, plus initial enrollment fees. Grants Pass’s YMCA is also distinctly Christian, with its mission stating that it is “Putting Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all.”
County Commissioners met again on Thursday, September 4. Commissioner Barnett motioned to vote on the library’s new lease proposal. No action was taken, as there was no second. Barnett wasn’t being generous here: he and fellow Commissioner Belch learned between the August 21 meeting and the September 1 meeting that their jobs may end, due to a potential recall from voters.
Playing nice with the library was an attempt at saving face.
All of this begs the question of what’s actually happening here. Why would a board of county commissioners allow those within a taxpaying district to bow out? Perhaps it concerns why that taxpayer lost his bid in May 2023 for a seat on the JCLD. He ran on a platform of hate, bigotry, and conspiracy theories that were and remain endemic on the right:
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If Pelfrey couldn’t persuade voters to elect him to “fix” the library’s problems, as the right has manufactured them, he would simply demand that his money not go toward helping fund the community institution.
It wasn’t–and it isn’t–just Pelfrey, though.
Recalled Commissioner John West has also laid all of his cards down on the table over the last several months. No longer able to lord authority in the county, he’s turned to informing the remaining commissioners what they need to be doing. It is precisely as you’d expect.
All of this is about pushing the Trump agenda of bigotry, hatred, and intimidation.
In a series of emails shared by the Grants Pass Daily Courier (note that this story is paywalled, but the emails in the prior link are not), West demands that commissioners evict the library and put the onus on the institution. Otherwise, “[y]ou will be in every paper and news outlet how you screwed us all over and gave us the middle finger ( your call).” The emails began in February, once local voters relieved him of his duties.
From February 11, directed to all of the Commissioners:
To my Josephine County Commissioners, The taxpayers ask you do your job and do not give into the library .We do not want our tax dollars funding the Library getting free rent and maintenance. We work hard for our money and we elected you not to waste our money . Please run this county as a business . We the county taxpayers voted several times NO we don’t want a library or to have to pay for one . It’s illegal to take our money and fund a library when we voted NO do not do it . We voted NO starting in 2007 and again in 2016 you work for the citizens not the library. Thank you John west
In June:
Dear Commissioners , We are going to see if you ignore the 20 plus thousands voters that elected you and tax the people for OSU/ 4h . While OSU pushes DEI, transgender, LBGYQ + . They have give you a budget with NO accountability , Jo Co youth and AG has 375 kids OSU will have 50 at best JO CO youth AG get nothing . OSU with the 400,000 plus also get 800,000 to a million of grant money which is tax money . no accountability for the money . This board for some reason thinks it’s ok to spend all this money on law enforcement we will see a budget shortfall next year and the year after and when they get laid off its on you . Every expert says federal and state money is getting cut you don’t listen .The recall is coming that’s for sure and Republicans will not have your back guaranteed . We see you get replaced I promise for you turning back on Josephine county and those that got you elected . John west
A few days later in June:
To the board of Commissioners there is two groups working on the recall, they are working to join forces . The recall will be in middle of July or first of August . They pushed the recall out to make sure they got everything out of you commissioners they could get .(1) OSU / 4h (2) Budget passed how they want (3) AMR mining scandal lease (4) library no accountability free lease screwing the taxpayers(5) many other poor decisions trying to save your job. Let’s be clear you have and are screwing 24,000 people that voted for you now we will show what it’s like to sign the recall , and vote to through you out of office. You have screwed your base and we will make you pay , of course you could help save your skin and change course but I don’t think your that smart . I myself had different measures in place to help stop the recall but I have put them on hold watching and I am sick to my stomach . The Republican base will be sent flyers and info on how you screwed the base , recalling you will be easy . Raising money for the recall is easy many donors are coming forward . How much money do you have ? You will not get it from the base , the Republican party will sit back and watch you go away , that’s what happens when you screw your base Ron and Chris your Done just to stupid to know it . They are playing you and praising Ron but it cost the same to recall one verses 3 no extra .You will be out and I will not lift a finger to stop it . Good luck your going down they played you .
An email was sent on August 14, the day that Commissioner Belch abruptly and unprofessionally ended the meeting:
To the BCC , Very interesting library hearing today. Remember when the 1 dollar a year lease was put in place the county had lots of money timber money, tax money etc. Many years later this mind set has to change , Oregon is set to lose 12 to 15 billion in grants , library funding , plus more . This means the library gets cut from the state , but look at the cuts the county will get, prepare yourself and this county now. This proposal of this lease is a slap in the face to the taxpayers . What’s wrong with the county charging a fair price per sq ft on the library and the county doing all the maintenance? 1.60 is high 1.00 low per sq ft , every year from here the price goes up but in this lease we make nothing for 5 years. We then county/ taxpayers then would be treated fair and the county would have money left over to invest to keep county buildings in operating shape. This would also help other departments if the extra money earned stayed in the building maintenance fund . Remember the jail needs a new roof that’s 1 million or more to fix and 400,000 to patch law enforcement and other county department buildings are more important than a non county library . Has the county considered asking the library to go to the library district and ask all those supporters to pay an extra .04 per thousand and this money can only be used for building lease ? That way the citizens not in the library district is not paying for something they voted down at ballot box 3 times . I think citizens might have a case for a class action lawsuit against the county for using there taxpayer money on something they voted down.The county charges a handy cap non profit 3400 per month by the fair grounds , why not me make it 1 dollar .Dollar days are over , no body in there right mind would do this but the library because they have all to gain .They receive 1.6 million now plus 3 percent each year . It will cost more and break the county if we have to pay for rent/ lease for building ,planning, public health , facilities . The library is trying to raise 26 to 43 million for a new library in five years it will be 35 to 55 million . They have saved over 1.5 million since only paying 1 dollar and the county / taxpayers have lost 1.5 million over not charging a non county entity a fair price . We owe them nothing , it’s time to get the library district to pay the extra .04 or .05 they say they donate above and beyond already , it’s the districts responsibility not taxpayers not involved in the district. 24,000 voters voted for you and expect you to look out for them ,don’t charge them for something they don’t want to support . We voted you into office to run the county as bussiness not a charity with our money . 24,000 voters voted you in and can vote you out . But lucky for you the two chief petitioners on the recall have just received a lawsuit against them and they are having to step back . More Dems are dropping out worried of a lawsuit . If they could muster up a recall which they can’t it would be from people that don’t vote for you , don’t turn your base against you. Do not spend our taxpayers money on a library that pushes DEI, transgender, and lbgtq and isnt a county department . Times has changed free is over , do not spend our money on trying to make these few people happy . John West
On August 21, hours before the Commissioners meeting where they would vote on the lease with a 30-day vacate clause, West writes to the board:
Commissioners as make your decision today on the library lease remember these properties you manage for the taxpayers are ours . Next year the jail levy comes up , it’s my prediction the voters will vote NO on the property tax levy , especially seeing how they want to increase it . Why should citizens vote for more taxes when the commissioner vote to give away our assets . The income you get from county assets could help offset things like the jail . You will need to come up with 3.5 million a year for the jail and you don’t have it . So are you putting the library before law enforcement and other 1 dollar a year lease before law enforcement ? The new talking point to the taxpayers is the commissioner have or had the money without asking the citizens for property tax money but chose not to create income and ask you the citizen to raise taxes . This choice is on you do the right thing this is not a county entity , your playing with fire and the taxpayer will let you get burned . The library is non gov . agency there district pays there own way . We the voters/ taxpayers will not pay and pay you will learn a hard lesson . John West
Then on August 25, days later:
Commissioners, The library lease is a disaster , the library district can put on the ballot a 4 or 5 cents to pay for the county lease . People in the district say they love there library and would pay more let them. 27,000 cardholders say they want the library let them pay for it . The taxpayers have spoken 3 times NO , are you going to force 61,000 taxpayers to lose money ? As budgets keep getting cut ,grants, funding sources , you need to create revenue with the taxpayers asset you manage for us . If your going to give us 61,000 the middle finger then we will not have your back at the ballot box. There is a reason why the library wants it done now because the voters/ taxpayers are getting screwed and they know it. President Trump is cutting state library money because of DEI, Transgender , and lbgtq . Ron you say your the peoples commissioner than prove it don’t make 61,000 citizens lose money . If commissioner Barnett you want to hang yourself with the library lease around your neck go ahead but you will lose the war 24,000 voters put you into office the Dems hate you and you are giving your base NO reason to have your back. This is costing the taxpayers at least 757,000 dollars of lost revenue at the low rate . We are ready to hit every newspaper and TV, and radio with this if we have to . We are not being mean to you guys but asking you to have our backs and run the county like a bussiness . Each county department puts money in the property reserves for maintenance . This library is a community library and a private foundation you have zero power over them Please vote NO see what 61,000 thousand people not supporting you feels like . You will be in every paper and news outlet how you screwed us all over and gave us the middle finger ( your call). We want to have your back but not if don’t have ours . John West
For over two years, this has been about a small group of white men deciding who gets access to a community asset.
For over two years, this has been out of the playbook of the right, who have waged a relentless war against libraries for little more than to pursue their version of authoritarianism and extremism.
A handful of people are eager to withhold library services from tens of thousands to score a few political points. That’s all it is, and that’s all it has ever been.
The fixation on institutions of incarceration and opportunities for increased policing isn’t accidental, either. It’s not just at the forefront of the right and their fixation on “law and order.” Libraries nationwide have seen their budgets targeted in the last year as a means of further funding the police state. Look at Great Falls, Montana or Menominee Falls, Wisconsin or East Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Prisons are, of course, the leaders in First Amendment violations, with poorly funded and staffed libraries. Such censorship–not to mention the institution itself–is the legacy of slavery.
JCLD’s story isn’t different from those playing out in dozens of libraries nationwide. Recall Samuels Public Library or Alpena Public Library or even Elmwood Park Public Library or Huntsville Public Library.
What perhaps sets it apart is that the story is one where commissioners know the library’s history and how precarious its funding situation is. It took the library several times to get the votes for a taxpayer model after losing a significant chunk of federal funds. The library has been so successful while the county’s population has exploded that now, its options for expansion are limited. It’s also slow work to complete, as any capital project is.
Many of the media’s takes on this story overlook the context of politics in this story, choosing instead to focus on the financial situation and the benefits the library gets from having a $1/year lease agreement with the county. That’s likely thanks to how libraries have spent far too long digging their feet into the idea of being “neutral” spaces. But not only is there no such thing, but that argument has cost libraries far more than could ever be imagined. Public institutions like libraries are political spaces because they are funded by taxpayers and subject to the votes of those they represent.
Most cities and counties own the buildings where their libraries operate. Grants Pass has been the main public library in Josephine County since 1959. It’s showing its age and needs repairs, which would be the library’s or the county’s financial responsibility, depending on where the repairs are, inside or outside the building. Simultaneously, the library outright purchased the land for their new branch, meaning that arguments about costs for this branch are moot–not only will the library not be there permanently, but the county commissioners themselves claimed one of the reasons they wanted to evict the library was because they planned to turn the facility into the home of a different county department.
In other words, the repairs would happen anyway. Indeed, they could cost taxpayers more if the facility is entirely the county’s responsibility under such claims.
At the end of the day, this is about further eradicating anyone who isn’t cishet, straight, white, conservative Christian, able-bodied, and male from the public. The JCLD’s board president, in addressing the county’s vote to allow Pelfrey and his wife to defect from the taxing district, was bang on two years ago: all of this is a means of defunding the library by whatever means possible.
The masks are off, though, and the truth is even worse than it seems.
Grants Pass Friends of the Library plays a pivotal role in documenting what’s happening to the library and will continue to encourage library supporters to show up and speak out. You can learn more about them and get involved on their website.
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