Andrews – Elected officials in town are angry about drug use in the Andrews Public Library’s restroom and seeking a meeting with library management to find a solution.
The Andrews Board of Aldermen met last week for the board’s monthly workshop to discuss numerous topics in advance of Thursday’s regular meeting, but the library issue will require longer-term thinking to resolve.
Town Alderman Ted Paul sent a written statement to the Cherokee Scout last Thursday expressing his concerns.
“Do you condone drug use? Do you condone drug use around your children?
This should be a rhetorical question,” he wrote. “The answer should be an obvious and resounding ‘NO!’ ”
He said addicts are shooting up in the Andrews library restroom.
“There is blood on the ceiling from a needle stick. The town maintenance man has been there no less than four times in the last few weeks unclogging the toilet,” he said.
“Unclogging the toilet that was stopped up with needles and other paraphernalia. Sewer backups caused by this problem have caused thousands of dollars in damage over the last few years.”
Paul added that library management is aware, “yet the police have never been called, and no one has been banned or trespassed from the property. Library management’s proposed solution? Install a Sharps container in the restroom.”
Sharps is a service that provides secure and safe containers for used needles and bio-hazard materials.
“This will definitely not happen,” Paul wrote. “A Sharps container sends the wrong message. It sends the message that the Nantahala Regional Library condones drug use and, since our name is on the building, it implies that the Town of Andrews condones drug use. It says to the dopers that our library is a safe place to come and shoot up. It tells our kids that drug use is OK.”
During the workshop last Thursday, Paul said it is “insane what’s going on in the library. Something’s got to be done.”
‘Things have got to change’
Mayor James Reid joined in.
“I love the library,” he said, but added that he has received dozens of calls from people concerned about safety there.
The town owns the library building and pays for its maintenance and utilities, totaling about $20,000 a year. It also pays $80,000 per year to Nantahala Regional Library to staff and manage the library, and keep its collection stocked and networked with other libraries throughout the state to provide access to those collections for local users.
Town leaders have expressed frustration at how the library is managed and its cost to the town. In recent years, the town cut its allocation to the library staff from $140,000 to $80,000, alleging that Andrews was subsidizing libraries in Hayesville and Robbinsville.
Newly elected aldermen Paul and James Mclean were in favor of cutting library funding even more during budget hearings in 2024. However, the board was persuaded to keep funding level.
In his written statement, Paul had this to say about the drug situation at the library: “Things have got to change at Andrews Public Library. Budget time is coming.”
Solutions evasive
Aldermen and the mayor pitched a variety of suggestions during last Thursday’s workshop.
Regional management has suggested changing the back door to “exit only” and installing a camera in the hallway, Paul said. The board talked about keeping the library’s back door locked.
In his statement, Paul said there is a simple solution.
“Keep the dopers out of the library,” he wrote. “I am quite sure Andrews Public Library management knows who the dopers are. Ask them to leave, call the cops, have them banned and trespassed. If they come back, have them arrested.”
Without representation at the workshop from the library, there was no one to negotiate with. The board decided to have a board member and town attorney Holly Christy meet with Nantahala Regional Library Director Franklin Shook to discuss the problems.
Christy added that the town could establish a board of trustees to oversee the Andrews Public Library.
‘Just as bothered’
Shook was interviewed after the aldermen meeting by the Scout. He said he is also concerned about drug use in the Andrews library and has communicated that to the town officials he has spoken with.
“I reiterated to them that we are just as bothered as they are,” he said.
Shook has contacted other library directors around the state to see if they are experiencing something similar and steps they have taken to deal with the situation. Many directors suggested installing Sharps containers in the library restrooms so needles don’t wind up in the toilet.
State building code requires the library have public restrooms, so closing the restrooms is not an option, he said. However, converting the building’s back door to exit-only and installing surveillance cameras in the hallways are options.
He said he welcomes sitting down with town officials.
“I’m more than willing to find solutions,” Shook said. “It’s not like we are harboring criminals on purpose. We want the library to be safe for everyone.”