JAMESTOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – An Ottawa County library, which lost its operating millage after residents voted it down on August 2, has received new life from a noted donor.

Romance novelist Nora Roberts donated $50,000 this week to help keep the doors open at the Patmos Library in Jamestown Township after a failed millage earlier this month threatened to close the library’s doors.

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On Aug. 2, voters overwhelmingly turned down an operating millage that supported 84% of the library’s budget. The main flap stemmed from LGBTQ-themed books. Those included “Gender Queer: A Memoir” along with “Kiss Number 8” and “Spinning.” People voiced outrage over the books glorification of same-sex relationships and graphic sex act descriptions.

The library refused to remove the books, but did move the “Gender Queer” book behind the counter so library patrons would have to request it.

Two separate “Go Fund Me” campaigns have raised much of the library’s budget since the primary election, although Roberts is the most well-known donor. She’s penned more than 200 books, many of which are shelved at the Patmos Library.

However, these donations appear to be a stop-gap measure rather than a long-term solution. The library will ask voters a second time to approve an operating millage in the general election on November 8.