Alpena voters approve library tax, despite fuss over sex-themed books

Alpena County voters approved a tax to keep open its library, despite a campaign to defund it
Library officials have refused to move children and teen books some considered inappropriate
County commissioners are attempting to fire the library board over the issue

Voters in Alpena County on Tuesday approved a tax to keep its public library open, despite a campaign to defund it over children and teen books with sexual themes.

An operating millage, necessary to keep the library open, passed with 59% of the vote. The tax provides 74% of the library’s budget, some $800,00.

The campaign featured yard signs urging voters to “Vote NO on Library Grooming” and included an image of a man handing a book labeled “X Rated” to a young girl.

At issue were 14 books including “Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships and Being a Human.” The graphic novel is one of the American Library Association’s 10 most challenged books of 2023 for its depiction of masturbation and LGBTQ issues.

Another targeted book, “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health” details masturbation and other sex acts.

Related:

Upset residents demanded the books be moved to the adult section of the library or moved behind the counter. Library officials declined to move the books.

Also Tuesday, 54% of residents in Dickinson County in the Upper Peninsula approved a millage to continue funding their local library, despite a campaign to defeat it because of children’s books some deemed inappropriate.

The battle was similar to a 2022 fight in Ottawa County’s Jamestown Township, which voted to defund the Patmos Public Library because of LGBTQ-themed books available in teens. An operating millage was voted down twice, and the library only managed to keep its doors open by collecting hundreds of thousands in donations. Voters approved an operating millage in November 2023.

Tuesday’s millage approval may not be the end of the book controversy in Alpena. Two weeks before the vote, the Alpena County Board of Commissioners voted to begin the process of firing all five library board members in retaliation for the library board not moving the controversial books.

While book wars aren’t unusual, observers say they believe it is the first time that county leaders in Michigan have moved to remove library board members.