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I've been a board member at Patmos Library in Jamestown Charter Township, Michigan, for over 15 years. In all those years, the six of us on the board have shown up to a monthly meeting, which has been fairly short and straightforward.
But since November, 2021, our meetings have been inundated with members of the public. At a recent meeting, we had a record turnout of almost 200 people showing up to our library.
The reason is that residents are divided over the issue of whether Patmos Library, which is the only public library in our township of 10,000 people, should remove certain LGBT-themed books from its shelves.
The library has refused to remove these books and, in response, on August 2, 2022, local residents voted for our library to be defunded. Now, we could potentially have to close our doors.
The issue started in November, 2021, when a patron filled out a Material Reconsideration Form. We had never had anyone fill out one of these forms before.
This person requested that we remove a book called Gender Queer. As this was the first ever challenge in the history of our library, we decided to place this graphic novel behind the counter as a compromise. However, we consulted our library upper management afterwards, and they told us that even placing the book behind the counter is a form of censorship. So, in retrospect, we should have left it on the shelf.
Since then, several patrons have filled out Material Reconsideration Forms, requesting other books be banned.
The books that have been brought to our attention are young adult graphic novels: Kiss No. 8, Spinning, Breakaway and Heartstopper. Residents have requested these to be removed either because they have "inappropriate" language—swear words or sex-related words—or because they show pictures of girl-girl or boy-boy kissing or holding hands.
We have refused to remove these books. We support the First Amendment that says that all books on our shelves are for the entire community. So we are thinking "big picture." When I say big picture, I mean we're thinking of everybody. We represent everybody.
As a result, we've since had local conservatives coming to the library and confronting the director. Two directors have quit in the past year because of harassment by local residents, where people have come in, recording themselves and accusing the director of being gay.
Two library staff members have also quit over this stressful situation. When staff leave the building, just to go to their cars at the end of the day, you sometimes see them open the door and look around, in case there is anybody out there looking to confront them.
As we don't currently have a director, I'm next in line. Luckily nobody has harassed me, but the last month has been overwhelming. We've been rushing around, doing a lot of procedures to get to the August ballot, and then dealing with the aftermath of the vote, with special meetings about the millage, as well as our standard board meetings. It has been a challenge. For a voluntary position, it's a lot.
When the August 2 vote happened and the funding was voted down, the library staff and I were shocked. We sort of went through the five stages of grief. The night the results came out, I was angry. I couldn't believe these local residents would do this to the community. So many people need the library; we have a lot of families who homeschool their children and rely on the books in the library for their reading resources.
After the anger subsided, I was left with a terrible, disheartening feeling. I never in my mind thought that the "No" vote would be that high.
We are now gearing up for the final millage vote, in November. This vote will decide if the library can continue to receive funding for the next 10 years.
This situation has split our town. I've had businesses come out and say that they would prefer not to put up a sign saying that they favor one side or the other because they don't want to affect their business. They feel they need to be neutral.
When I'm in town, walking around, I start to wonder if people are looking at me, saying that I'm on the other side. Obviously my position is well-known because I speak in public about it. But I've come to the realization that there are acquaintances that are on the other side, and that's unfortunate. It's very awkward now, when I see them.
One of our own library board members had a "No" sign in their yard. That's disheartening and creates an awkward situation for me, and the board, knowing that.
But we have had a lot of support in town. I was happy to see a record number of pro-library people show up to our August board meeting, wanting to help keep the doors open.
We have received national attention because we got defunded. Someone set up a GoFundMe page, which was widely shared on social media and has raised $250k. There are a lot of positive comments on the page, supporting the books staying on the shelves. It lifts my spirits to see that there are people standing behind what we have done thus far. It's validating. Having the local support is good, but to also have the national support is an additional encouragement—to know that it goes beyond our local doorstep.
We are ecstatic to receive donations and to be able to keep our doors open for a longer period. However, when you take out some of the fees and other costs, that $250k from the GoFundMe page will only keep our doors open for an additional eight months. That's not a long time. The millage has to pass for us to keep our doors open, long-term.
But I'm feeling excited. We have formed a new "Yes" millage committee, with 15 local pro-library volunteers. We've hit the ground running and I'm very optimistic that we will get the word out about the millage and why it is needed to keep our doors open.
We had a low turn-out to the vote in August, but we are hoping more of the community will come out and vote in November. We are expecting a higher pro-library turnout this time, and hoping the millage will be passed, so we can keep our doors open in the future.
Larry Walton is the acting president of the Patmos Library Board.
All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
As told to Katie Russell.
