A furious librarian ripped apart conservatives in a fiery speech for ‘threatening’ and ‘cursing’ at her over LGBTQ+ books in the small town’s library.
Patmos Library in Jamestown Township, Michigan became the centre of media attention earlier this year after conservative locals targeted the LGBTQ+ books in its collection. Residents rallied together to safe the library, which is facing closure after funding cuts amid the anti-LGBTQ+ backlash.
The librarian described during a board of trustees meeting how she reached her “breaking point” when safety concerns and threats to staff forced the library to close early.
“Why did we close last week? I’ll tell you: We have a breaking point,” the employee said. “We have been threatened. We have been cursed.”.
The infuriated librarian described how right-wing locals baselessly accused her of ‘sexualising’ and “grooming” children. Such anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric has been linked to the rise in discrimination and violence against the community and allies.
She said she’s been working five or six days a week because the library hasn’t been able to hire anyone. The librarian explained how she feels she can’t bring her children into town because of hateful signs calling librarians “paedophiles”.
“How dare you, people! You don’t know me,” she said. “You don’t know anything about me.”
@inclusiveottawacounty Make this woman go viral. This is one of the AMAZING librarians at the PatmosLibrary. She is kind, inclusive, and so so tired. This is what our librarians in #Jamestowntownship have been enduring for the last year and a half, and it’s only gotten worse since the #midtermelections . Support your local library, y’all. #americanlibraryassociation #ALA #library #librariansoftiktok #booktok #ottawacounty #jamestown #hudsonville #michigan #westmichigan #locallibrary #publiccomment #bannedbooks
♬ original sound – Inclusive Ottawa County![✊]()
The librarian detailed being “threatened” and “cursed on the phone”, saying the “horrible” experiences made her regret even moving to the town.
“We broke. Deal with it. We’re human,” she said. “I’m tired, and I’m tired of all of you.”
She continued: “I moved to this town two and a half years ago, and I regretted it every day for the last year.
“This has been horrible. I didn’t know people could be like this. I wasn’t raised this way.”
The librarian said she is “everything you are” as she is “Catholic” and “Christian”, but she shouted that she hasn’t heard the messages about how “God loves all of us” from the furious people protesting the library.
“I was taught to love your neighbour as you love yourself, no matter what they’re like — that God loves all of us,” she shouted. “That’s not what I hear every day, not from you.”
“It was one threat too many, one accusation too many and alls we do is come in here and serve you day after day after day. You’re welcome,” she said as she walked off.
Patmos Library board president Larry Walton said the safety threat was real at the meeting, Fox 17 reported. Walton added the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.
The embattled library received support from locals and online donations online, helping it to stay open longer amid the anti-LGBTQ+ backlash over its books.
In November, the board announced Patmos Library was set to close in September 2024. But just a few weeks later, a Michigan family donated $100,000 to help keep the library open.
The board announced the library could now stay open until January 2025 because of the recent, generous donations.
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