James City County on Tuesday unanimously approved an updated regional library agreement and new name, putting an end to another point of contention between Historic Triangle localities.
It was the final of the three members to sign the deal. Williamsburg and York County approved the contract earlier in October, dubbing the system the Greater Williamsburg Regional Library. The library board will finalize the agreement at its next meeting.
The agreement shuffles the library board’s makeup. York will now have a non-voting member and James City will get an additional voting member, increasing it from an 11- to a 12-member board. All York residents will be able to get library cards, and people in New Kent and Charles City counties will be able to get one for a fee. The three member localities will double how much they can pay for region-wide library investments.
The agreement also changes how York pays for library operations. Rather than being based on circulation, as the other localities do, York will pay a fifth of what it pays for its library system — aligning with the population of upper county residents.
York last June said it was going to leave the library system if it couldn’t strike a new deal on funding it. York wanted to better control its costs after learning that its bill for being in the regional system was going up to $890,000 in 2026.
York County has a library system, but cooperates with the regional one to give upper county residents closer to GWRL branches a closer option. The York County Public Library locations are on the southern side of Naval Weapons Station Yorktown.
York will pay about $1.2 million in 2027. That’s higher than 2026, and more than it would pay if it were calculating costs on circulation; it gives the county certainty that additional increases will be tied to what it pays for its system.
The regional library system is preparing for two new buildings. James City County supervisors on Tuesday voted 3-2 on the first phase of a third branch location to its under-construction consolidated government center. The first phase will cost up to $6.3 million.
Williamsburg approved replacing its location on Scotland Street with a new building on the same block in September.
