JAMESTOWN, Mich. — The Patmos Library Board held a special meeting Friday morning to discuss the millage shot down by voters on Aug. 2.
The millage has garnered national attentionsince the campaign against it was headed up by conservatives because of its collection of literature containing LGBTQ+ themes and authors.
Since then, township voters chose to defund the library during the August primary. The decision caused the library to lose $245,000 from its budget.
Watch the public meeting here:
Friday, the Board decided to clean up the language on the ballot proposal, which will be added to the general election ballot in November.
The amount on the millage will remain the same at 0.6.
Board members expressed their surprise that voters denied funding from the library over its LGBTQ+ collection, given the library contains a relatively small number of books in that category.
They hope more voters will show up during the general election if the township approves the ballot proposal.
“We are hoping that more of the community comes out in November and votes because I think it was less, and 50% of our voters actually came out in the August primary,” says Vice President Angela Rodenhouse. “So we’re hoping to get all of the voices of Jamestown in November.”
The library raised more than $100,000 in donations, which the Board explains is enough to fund operations for a year.
