This is a tough time to be a librarian in America. From all over the country we hear stories of pressure put on them to ban books certain people do not like. Most often, the books have something to do with young LGBTQ people, books meant to help these folks deal with the insults and sense of being an outsider minorities often have to endure. Why this has suddenly become a cause celebre is hard to understand, but then again, so are a lot of things that happen these days.
This is particularly difficult for those who have made their careers in the library. After all, librarianship is hardly the type of field that would attract people who like book banning and burning. They like books, like diverse opinions, like the people who visit them because they want to learn more, not less. This has to be very painful for those who build their careers in the library.
This is a story of one library that fought back. A group of citizens from Jamestown Township, Michigan, put pressure on the Patmos Library to remove books with an LGBTQ theme. The library stood its ground. The library board said “no.” According to local press, Larry Walton, library board President said “We, the board, will not ban books.”
So the anti-LGBTQ crowd put a proposition on the ballot to defund the library. The ballot measure would eliminate the tax allocation for the library. They succeeded. By a margin of 1,905-1,142, the voters decided to eliminate their support for the library. It meant funding for 84% of their $245,000 annual budget was gone. It was questionable how much longer the library would be able to keep their doors open with the vast majority of their funds gone.
Then something almost miraculous happened. A resident and regular library patron named Jesse Dillman decided to open a GoFundMe account to help the library. He set a rather ambitious goal of $245,000. That was quite ambitious considering Jamestown Township has a population under 10,000. Nevertheless, the contributions came in. Lots and lots of them. More than 4,000 people contributed, many from places far away from Jamestown Township. The biggest single contribution came from romance novelist Nora Roberts who gave $50,000. The full $245,000 was raised. The library was saved, at least for now.
Those who support the library have put the tax back on the ballot for November. They believe they will get a bigger turnout from library supporters this time. It won't be easy. On the same ballot, 40% of the voters voted against the tax to support the fire department. It sounds like any tax proposition starts with a 40% no vote there. Even if their support is voted down again, the library should be able to survive another year. However, if the book banners get their way, not many libraries will be able to survive on GoFundMe appeals. Nora Roberts can't save every library. The last person with both the will and money to support every library was Andrew Carnegie, and he died over a century ago.
The Patmos Library, while extremely grateful for the outpouring of support, cautioned that this can't be a permanent solution. Like the fire department, police, schools, and other public services, secure long-term funding is needed for long term survival. As they posted on their website, “The Patmos Library Board is humbled by the support coming in from all over the world. From the kind remarks and words of encouragement to the donations that we have received these last few weeks, it means a lot that people are standing with this library and our community. 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 passes, we will remain a public library and use the donations to add to our capacities. If the levy fails, we will put these donations to work in the best way we can for as long as we can.”
