Randolph County Commissioners held off on approving new trustees for the public library board at a meeting Monday.
The commission dismissed the previous trustees back in December over its decision to keep a book about a transgender child on the shelves.
At this month’s meeting, the commission was set to vote on a list of seven nominees for the board as part of their consent agenda — meaning they could have been approved without public discussion.
But several residents, like Charlie White, asked the board for a more transparent process.
“Were these nominees simply hand-picked? Were any people who applied actually chosen for seats? We don't know," White said.
Some speakers also had concerns about the qualifications of the nominees, which include the board secretary for Return America, a local religious group that urged churches to turn out to the commission meeting last year to support dismissing the old library board.
Hope Haywood was the only commissioner to return a call about the nomination process by deadline. Her pick works in public schools and regularly visits the Randleman Library. She says he applied for the position — she didn’t recruit him.
“I can’t address how anyone else did their applications," Haywood said. "Let me just say, I want somebody that I feel comfortable with. I want somebody that I feel like wants to serve for the right reasons.”
The board removed the appointments from the meeting agenda. Chairman Darrell Frye noted that they were still two nominees short and would prefer to appoint the new board in its entirety.