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Michigan Town Defunds Tax-Funded Library Due to LGBTQ+ Book Fight

Michigan Town Defunds Tax-Funded Library Due to LGBTQ+ Book Fight

A Michigan town has voted to defund its tax-funded public library due to a fight that began over LGBTQ+ books.

Jamestown Township, a historically conservative community in Ottawa County, Michigan, voted to defund Patmos Library on Tuesday, August 2. 

According to a report from Bridge Michigan, the "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."

The vote to not renew the library's funding comes after a local uproar over certain books with LGBTQ+ themes were found on the shelves. Bridge Michigan shared:

...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.

Residents of Jamestown Township also filed complaints about titles like "Spinning" and "Kiss Number 8," which remain on the shelves in the Young Adult (YA) area of the library, a section geared toward high school students.

Without the property tax money, Patmos Library -- which opened in 1999 -- expects to run out of money in late 2023 if other funding is not secured. Library board president Larry Walton told Bridge Michigan:

“I wasn’t expecting anything like this. The library is the center of the community. For individuals to be short sighted to close that down over opposing LGBTQ is very disappointing.”

Michigan Library Association executive director Debbie Mikula said on Wednesday that about 40 other Michigan libraries had millages on ballots on Tuesday. Only Patmos's did not pass due to a "cultural reason."

What do you think about this town defunding its library?

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Rebekah Barton

Rebekah Barton

Rebekah's search engine optimization career began completely by accident as a college student. Over the course of her career so far, she has "grown up" with the SEO industry, from writing content while juggling classes to managing her own teams of writers and overseeing SEO strategy in subsequent roles. She is excited to bring her passion for high-quality content to CountingWorks, Inc.

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