Buncombe County issues statement regarding June 29 incident at West Asheville Branch Library

Press release from Buncombe County:

On June 29, an outside group reserved a meeting room at West Asheville Branch Library under the name Another Carolina Bookfair for the purpose of an unspecified workshop. This was not a County sponsored event.

During the event above, the staff Librarian, who was not in the meeting room was alerted to a disturbance and called 911. Law enforcement and emergency services responded. This event is now under an active Asheville Police Department investigation. One arrest has been made. We are aware the arrest report states the person’s employer is Asheville Public Library System. To clarify, this person is not and has never been a Buncombe County employee.

Buncombe County Public Libraries makes Library meeting rooms available to groups, organizations, and businesses as part of the Library’s mission to support the educational, cultural, and civic activities of the community.  Our meeting room policies are not intended to control the content of programs or events held in the meeting rooms, but to set basic terms and conditions for the use of the facilities. The facilities are available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs, or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use. Persons attending programs and meetings are subject to all provisions of the Library’s Rules of Conduct, and use of the meeting rooms does not constitute an endorsement of the program or organization by the Library or Buncombe County.

Buncombe County Public Libraries do not condone violence or hate crimes in any way, and leadership is actively working with Asheville Police Department.

SHARE
About Community Bulletin
Mountain Xpress posts selected news and information of local interest as a public service for our readers. To submit press releases and other community material for possible publication, email news@mountainx.com.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

2 thoughts on “Buncombe County issues statement regarding June 29 incident at West Asheville Branch Library

  1. Enlightened Enigma

    is the arrestee, Taylor Danielle Zarkin, a 30’s white female, a resident of Buncombe County ?

  2. SpareChange

    Why is the county being coy in avoiding simply naming the sponsors of the event (Firestorm Books), and why not use the complete name of the fair? It was not billed, as mentioned in the county’s statement, “Another Carolina Bookfair.” Rather, it was billed officially and publicly as, “Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair,” with the acronym, ACAB (also standing for All Cops Are Bastards). The fact that Firestorm is only a block away from the library where this disgusting incident occurred makes these omissions all the more curious in that the sponsors of ACAB are very well known to library staff.
    https://acabookfair.noblogs.org/

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.