Controversy has swirled around the Patmos Library since patrons began protesting some books with LGBT themes written for young adults.
- A west Michigan public library may close after residents voted to defund it Tuesday
- Voters are upset about LGBT-themed graphic novels in the library
- Residents and library officials are now at a stalemate about what happens next
JAMESTOWN TOWNSHIP—What started as a fight over an LGBTQ-themed graphic novel may end with the closure of a west Michigan public library.
Voters in Jamestown Township, a politically conservative community in Ottawa County, rejected renewal Tuesday of a millage that would support the Patmos Library. That vote guts the library’s operating budget in 2023 — 84 percent of the library’s $245,000 budget comes from property taxes collected through a millage.
Without a millage, the library is likely to run out of money sometime late next year, said Larry Walton, library board president.
“I wasn’t expecting anything like this,” Walton told Bridge Michigan Tuesday. “The library is the center of the community. For individuals to be short sighted to close that down over opposing LGBTQ is very disappointing.”
There have been protests at other Michigan public libraries and at school board meetings about books with LGBTQ themes. But Tuesday may be the first time a community voted, in effect, to close its library rather than have it remain open with books some consider to be “indoctrinating” children.
Voters on Tuesday rejected the millage renewal by a 25-point margin — 62 percent to 37 percent — on the same day voters approved millages for road improvements and the fire department.
Best LGBTQ+ Books 2021
Ten years earlier, a library millage at a slightly lower rate was approved by 37 percentage points.
For the average home with a market value of $250,000, the new millage, if approved, would have increased taxes about $24.
Debbie Mikula, executive director of the Michigan Library Association, said Wednesday there were about 40 public library millages on ballots across the state Tuesday, and all but a handful passed. No others that failed appeared to be due to cultural issues like with the Patmos millage, she said.
The difference, according to voters who spoke to Bridge Tuesday: Books in the adult and young adult section of the Patmos Library that depict, in some cases in detail, same-sex relationships.
Earlier this year, a parent raised concerns about the graphic novel “Gender Queer: A Memoir,” located in the adult graphic novel section. The book tells the story of the author’s coming of age as nonbinary, and includes illustrations of sex acts.
As many as 50 people attended several library board meetings this spring, meetings that typically draw only a handful of residents. At those meetings, residents demanded the book be pulled from the shelves. The library board moved the book behind the counter, where children couldn’t happen upon it by accident.
Complaints were filed about several other books, including “Spinning,” a graphic novel about a teen girl and her attraction to other girls, and “Kiss Number 8,” a graphic novel with similar themes. Those books remain on the shelves of the young adult (high-school age) graphic novels section.
Library Director Amber McLain resigned this spring, telling Bridge she had been harassed online and accused of indoctrinating children. Interim director Matthew Lawrence resigned later.
When the Patmos staff and elected board of directors declined to remove the books from the library’s collection, some upset residents organized an effort to defeat the library’s millage renewal.
The group, called Jamestown Conservatives, passed out flyers at the town’s Memorial Day parade that referenced “Gender Queer: a Memoir,” a Pride Month display at the library and a director who, in the group’s words, “promoted the LGBTQ ideology.”
“Pray that we can make changes and make the Patmos Library a safe and neutral place for our children,” the flyer said.
Yard signs urging residents to vote no on the library millage popped up along Riley Street, Jamestown’s main drag. One sign was directly across the street from the library, and another was conspicuously in the lawn of a library board member. That board member could not be reached for comment.
One resident posted a large, homemade sign that said, “50 percent increase to GROOM our kids? Vote NO on Library!”… More
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