McNairy County Commissioners vote to keep library open, pass budget

SELMER, Tenn — A specially called meeting in McNairy County ends with the passage of a new budget and ends an argument Monday night over whether to close a local library.

McNairy County commissioners voted to keep the Jack McConnico Library in Selmer open and fund needed renovations to the building instead of creating a centralized accounting position that would be set up in the new fiscal budget.

County commissioners said this decision was a win for the people.

“To be able to shut it down and deny kids access to internet and things of that nature in a small community like ours, we need to try to do everything we can to keep it open,” County Commissioner Keith Jernigan said.

Commissioners passed the new fiscal year’s budget to include $78,000 going to operate the library.

Last year McNairy County’s audit from the state revealed 16 issues, many of which the county mayor said could have been resolved by adding an full-time accountant to the county’s payroll.