Residents sound off at Quarryville Library board meeting after Fulton Twp. supervisors cut gift over LGBTQ+ content

• By Olivia M. Miller/LNP | LancasterOnline

This story is published in partnership with our sister newsroom LNP | LancasterOnline.

Dozens of residents served by the Quarryville Library Center attended the library’s board meeting Monday night to ask questions and make their voices heard.

“This is the biggest crowd we’ve ever had for a board meeting,” said Chris Waite, president of the library’s board of trustees.

Fulton Township supervisors announced at their Nov. 2 meeting the township won’t give its customary $1,000 donation to Quarryville Library Center in 2024. Township board President Scott Osborne said the decision came about when supervisors discovered the library provides access to LGBTQ+ materials that they say don’t reflect residents’ values.

A child borrowed a book from the library that included material about transgender people, Osborne said. The incident was reported to the township and residents brought it up at a township board meeting in October. Osborne clarified the township’s board of supervisors don’t have a personal issue with the library but with the material in question.

Among residents’ questions was how the library regulates its materials.

Ed Miller, a district consultant with the Library System of Lancaster County, attended Monday’s meeting at the request of the library’s board to help answer the public’s questions.

“The issue of book bans and censorship in general is one that libraries and librarians deal with regularly, unfortunately,” Miller said after the meeting.

Public libraries are mandated to serve the entire community, according to Miller. Not everyone will agree on every book, and libraries aren’t endorsing viewpoints.

“We’re simply collecting them,” Miller said after the meeting. “When we collect them, we’re acknowledging that there are individuals in those communities who have an interest in that topic.”

Amanda Devonshire, 31, of Eden Township, was one of many who spoke at the meeting. When Devonshire heard about Monday’s meeting, she said she wondered if there would be queer representation.

“Representation, inclusivity, (is) really important. Especially in an area like this where it is more conservative,” she said after the meeting.

Devonshire said she decided to go to the meeting to share her experience and show support for the library, hoping LGBTQ+ books aren’t banned.

“I couldn’t just sit and not come and say anything because this is the area I grew up, and it was not easy growing up as a queer person in this area,” she said after the meeting.

Former library board member and treasurer Dennis Blevins, 73, of Drumore Township, said to the crowd that municipalities aren’t required to fund libraries. He encouraged attendees to contact their municipal officials and express how much they care about the library and push them to support it.

On Nov. 4, figure-skating icon and Quarryville native Johnny Weir announced on social media he’ll donate $1,000 to the library. Being a supporter of both LGBTQ+ causes and his hometown, Weir said he wanted to “help save a community that raised me and to make sure the library represents everyone, not just the few.”

“Since then, it’s been kind of a snowball effect,” Waite said before the meeting. “A lot of just supportive letters, phone calls, emails, the social media, it’s crazy.”

Even though the library appreciates the donations, they’re looking into finding long-term funding, he said. The library is not fully state-funded and has to raise almost 60% of its expenses and operating costs.

The library raises funds with events such as book sales and barbecues. It is holding a holiday bake sale 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, and 10 a.m.–1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9 in its Carlson Cultural Room.