Regional library agreement "very close", York administrator says

It's July 23. Williamsburg, James City and York county administrators close to a deal to keep York in the Williamsburg Regional Library. Williamsburg Farmers Market is a multimillion dollar affair.

Williamsburg, James City and York County administrators are close to a deal that will keep York in the Williamsburg Regional Library system, one of them told Williamsburg Watch.

While the deal may cost more than York would like, it will be significantly cheaper than going it alone for the county.

“We’re very close,” York County Administrator Mark L. Bellamy, Jr. said. “But ultimately, it’s up to the boards.”

James City County Administrator Scott Stevens said he is putting a closed-door session on next week’s board of supervisors meeting agenda to discuss a library contract.

Bellamy said the final result “is going to look very much the same” as the original proposal floated by York County, which has not been disclosed publicly.

York County has its own library system, but is also in the regional library for the convenience of its First District residents, who live near Williamsburg and well north of the county’s other libraries.

“They consider themselves Williamsburg residents,” said Sandy Towers, the executive director of the regional library.

York supervisors have complained about the growing cost of being members of the regional library. York County’s contribution, while the smallest of the three localities, has grown from $828,000 in 2024 to $964,453 this year.

The charge is based on the percentage of library books checked out by each locality’s residents.

James City pays the largest share of operating costs -- $6.5 million -- because its residents account for 73% of the items checked out from the library system, according to library figures. Williamsburg’s share went down to $1.1 million this year.

Last year York County gave the required two-year notice that it would leave the regional library June 30, 2027, to protest the amount it was paying toward operating costs. James City County has also served notice it wants to renegotiate the regional library agreement.

York’s costs are significantly lower than the $27 million the county tentatively sketched out for a new library in the north end, not including the cost of staffing and equipping the new building.