The Patmos Library in West Michigan has won a vote for taxpayer support after being defunded for having books with an LGBTQ focus for children and teens. This was the third try for the Patmos Library, as they had been defunded twice previously by voters.
But on November 7, the library won by a 63 % to 37 % margin and was granted an operating millage by Ottawa County’s Jamestown Township. Eighty-four percent of the library’s $250,000 budget is funded by the township’s property taxes.
The library’s struggles date back to spring 2022, when conservative residents essentially launched a smear campaign against the library, saying they were “exposing children to pornography” as reported by The Bridge Michigan.
The “pornography” in question was Maia Kobabe’s Gender Queer: A Memoir, an LGBTQ+ novel that features drawings depicting sex acts. The novel is a coming of age story and was located in the young adult graphic novel section.
Kobabe’s book has consistently been the target of book bans and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric since it was released in 2019. Two other books at the library were also protested by conservative residents, but it was Kobabe’s book that got the most backlash.
In August 2022, the library lost by 25 percentage points, and in October 2022, lost again by 12 percentage points. After their second loss, the library was forced to create a GoFundMe fundraiser in order to keep their doors open.
The library successfully raised $300,000 in donations and was able to stay open another year, but if they had lost this November 2023 vote they would have been forced to close their doors by autumn 2024 due to lack of funding.
The Patmos Library is a success story among a slew of book bans across the country and showcases what can be accomplished when community members come together to stand for a cause—in this case, standing against book censorship and the defunding of necessary public spaces.
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