Residents Raise Thousands for Library Defunded over LGBTQ+ Books

Residents of a Michigan town rose to the defense of their local public library, which was defunded in the wake of attacks over its inclusion of LGBTQ+ books on its shelves.

NBC News reported that "voters in Jamestown Township, a community 20 miles east of Lake Michigan, rejected a proposal last week to renew tax funds to support the Patmos Library in nearby Hudsonville that serves Jamestown and the surrounding area," effectively defunding the library by starving it of $245,000 annually – 84% of the library's budget. In response, concerned residents stepped up to "raise almost $100,000" to replace some of the money and help keep the library operating.

It didn't take long for civic-minded community members to launch their efforts to keep the public library going.

"Two days after the vote, Jesse Dillman, a Jamestown resident and father of two, launched an online fundraiser to help raise the $245,000 to keep the library open," NBC detailed.

"I am very passionate about this, and I have people that are behind me to do this," NBC quoted Dillman as saying. "I think I have to do it now, because the iron is hot. If this is going to happen, it's going to happen now."

In short order, donors from the community – as well as from around the world – had chipped in, contributing "more than $90,000," the report said.

NBC News recalled that the Patmos Library "has been in the crosshairs of some conservative residents since last November, when a small group of parents raised concerns over the availability of LGBTQ-related" books.

The Associated Press reported on Aug. 5 that the library board's president, Larry Walton, outlined the situation, saying, "They're protesting all LGBTQ books that are on our shelves."

Walton called demands to purge the library of LGBTQ+ books "unacceptable."

One area resident made it clear what it was he objected to.

"It's only the LGBTQ stuff that bothers me, with my kids in particular," Cody Newhouse told a local news station. "If you're older, make your own decision, that's totally fine. But with the younger kids, I just believe it should be away from them."

The library did offer to keep some titles off the publicly accessible shelves and "behind the circulation desk, it was not enough to persuade the voters to continue to fund the library," NBC News noted.

Walton commented on the outcome of the recent vote, saying, "The library is the center of the community."

"For individuals to be short-sighted to close that down over opposing LGBTQ [books] is very disappointing," Walton added.

Even as supporters of the besieged library were working to help preserve it, efforts continued to starve the public institution of funds, NBC News added.

"In May, a private Facebook group called Jamestown Conservatives was launched. The group, which as of Thursday morning had 158 members, states that it was 'created to help others of the community to be aware of the pushed agenda of explicit sexual content that is being infiltrated into our local libraries aiming toward our children,'" NBC News detailed.

The Patmos Library isn't the only public library under attack from conservatives. As previously reported, anti-LGBTQ+ residents of an Iowa town drove out dedicated library staff and shut down the town's library with complaints about LGBTQ+ staff and books, as well as books about Democratic political leaders.