GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – West Michigan’s Patmos Library is looking for funding to stay afloat. After two failed votes to fund the library, the third time might actually be the charm.

The Ottawa County library came into controversy in 2022 when community members learned that they had LGBTQ+ titles in the library including the book “Gender Queer: A Memoir” which many in the community and around the country consider to be pornographic. The book is about the author’s coming of age as nonbinary and also includes illustrations of sex acts.

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Caught up in a culture war, the library’s funding was rejected by the community twice, once in August of 2022 when the millage vote lost by 25 points and then again three months later when it lost by 12 points.

With 84-percent of the library’s budget coming from property taxes, the village of Jamestown needs to vote yes this November in order to keep the doors of the library open. But this time around, gone are the “vote no” yard signs and the community members showing up at board meetings to complain about the library. And there doesn’t appear to be any sort of active campaign to defeat the millage.

Instead, it looks like both sides are working out a compromise according to a Bridge Michigan report. With the library promising to print a synopsis of each book’s contents on a label inside each of the library’s 90K volumes (which will take years) and other changes, previous opponents of the library might be satisfied enough to help save the library instead of defeating the millage again.

Previous critics of the library are also happy that three of the six board members now include residents who had previously expressed concerns about the sexual content of some of the library’s books. Once on board, the community felt represented and the board members learned what was legal concerning the removal and restriction of books in a public library.

Additionally, the previously requested 10-year milage request with a tax rate increase is now a three-year millage with no rate increase.

Current library board president Kathy Van Zandbergen had displayed a “vote no” sign last year on her lawn regarding the library millage. However, this year she said, “We have a shared commitment to listen to our community and to ensure the library remains open and accessible for all.”