Michigan
Related: About this forum"A Michigan library lost an electoral bid to restore its funding -- revoked after librarians ..."
Popehat RetweetedA Mich. library refused to remove an LGBTQ book. The town defunded it.
A fight over "Gender Queer" spiraled into a battle that jeopardized Jamestowns only public library, as neighbors clashed over who gets to
Link to tweet
I edited the address of the article in the Detroit Free Press to make it work.
Emma Stein
Detroit Free Press
Published 6:50 p.m. ET Nov. 9, 2022 | Updated 8:27 p.m. ET Nov. 9, 2022
The Patmos Library millage failed in the August primary, meaning it lost 84% of its operating budget because its staff refused to remove its LGBTQ books. The board put it on the ballot again on Tuesday's midterms, hoping that with more residents aware of the measure, it would pass. ... It failed, again. ... Without taxpayer funds, the library will close. Exactly when that will happen is not yet known.
A GoFundMe for the library raised about $265,000, with the help of author Nora Roberts, but it won't be enough to sustain it long-term, the Patmos Library Board said in a plea to voters released just before the election.
"It means a lot that people are standing with this library and our community," the statement reads. "The financial support for the library is incredible and will help us weather the immediate crisis. However, we know very clearly that what this library needs to remain open over the long term is to pass the 10-year levy renewal in November. We cannot run the Patmos Public Library for the next decade without stable taxpayer support. ... If the levy fails, we will put these donations to work in the best way we can for as long as we can."
Just 5,500 residents out of around 10,000 in the township voted on the millage, and 55.8% voted "no." ... Connor Cook, a 26-year-old gay man who grew up in Jamestown and now attends medical school at Wayne State University, said he was shocked when he found out it failed. Losing access to the township's only library will have a significant impact on the community, he said, especially because many families homeschool their children and many of them learn how to read at libraries.
{snip}
Contact Emma Stein: estein@freepress.com and follow her on Twitter @_emmastein.
d_r
(6,907 posts)blm
(113,157 posts)Demovictory9
(32,521 posts)Why not let them experience the outcome of their stupid decision ?
blm
(113,157 posts)are taking the hit.
hildegaard28
(391 posts)To federalize some libraries that are running into these problems. If the locals won't fund the library, then maybe the feds can step and and fund them so locals can't close them down when they refuse to censor books.
Tomconroy
(7,611 posts)catbyte
(34,578 posts)that rocks, is a notoriously red area of Ottawa County.
Walleye
(31,207 posts)Srkdqltr
(6,420 posts)Walleye
(31,207 posts)Millions and millions of children saw that performance
pamdb
(1,335 posts)You know, I hate to say this as a retired public librarian, but good. Hell with Jamestown. It's a conservative Dutch (CRC)
village and as long as the other librarians will be able to get jobs with the Kent District Libraries, (Jamestown is in Ottawa
County and while it is under the umbrella of the Lakeland Library Cooperative, it's not part of the Kent County Library
System or the Grand Rapids Public Library System) then too bad.
gibraltar72
(7,522 posts)Easterncedar
(2,382 posts)Homeschoolers dont want to fund a general public benefit.
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