The debate over controversial books at the Alpena County Library that has riled our community for the past couple years apparently isn’t going away any time soon, and we can blame officials and residents on both sides of the issue for stoking the flames.

The background:

On the shelves in the children’s and teen’s sections of the library are a handful of books — many of them designed to provide lessons on boundaries, safe sex, and sexual health — that contain sexually graphic images and descriptions.

Supporters of the books say their placement is protected by the First Amendment and say the books provide parents and caregivers helpful tools to have difficult conversations with children.

But several community members protested the books, calling them too graphic for young readers. Some demanded the books be removed, while others wanted the books moved to adult shelves or placed behind a counter so only adults could check them out. Some filed official requests to the library to have the books reshelved, but were rebuffed.

The Alpena County commissioners reviewed the books and agreed they should be moved. Commissioners at one point threatened to remove all of the library board members, who are appointed by the county board, citing the library board members’ “inaction” on the issue, though the county board — after being threatened with a lawsuit — later backed off and said they’d replace library board members as terms expired or if any library board member resigned. Commissioners said they wanted a more diverse library board, with board members with varying ideas and backgrounds.

When a property tax that funds the library came up for renewal this past summer, opponents of the books urged their fellow Alpena County residents to vote against the tax if the books weren’t moved or removed. Those opponents backed off after the county board moved to remove the library board members. The library tax passed.

Library officials, partly in an effort to find compromise with critics, this year changed its cataloging system in a way that officials said would make it harder for minors to find the books in question.

All of that brought us to Tuesday, when the county board appointed two new library board members. Julie Byrnes will replace Lauren Mantlo for a term expiring in 2029. Traci Collins will finish the term of Michelle Cornish, who resigned from the board. Collins will serve to the end of 2027. Both Byrnes and Collins have said they’d like to see the books moved.

Mantlo is the library director at Alpena Community College, and some residents expressed outrage that the county board would replace her with Byrnes, who, at the height of the anti-library tax campaign, parked outside the library in a van adorned with a sign accusing the library of sexually grooming children.

Some residents threatened county commissioners with recall or election challenges over Tuesday’s appointments. Interim Library Director Tina Markowski sent a letter to the county board telling them their choices for the library board had created a hostile environment at the library, where staffers have post-traumatic stress disorder and have been burned out.

So, in a situation that demands calm and conversations, the county board instead elevated to the library board someone who had levied a very serious and harsh accusation against the library, while the other side threatens county board members’ jobs. Both sides keeping tempers flared.

Here’s the deal: We believe both sides have said and done what they’ve said and done in good faith. Both sides have concerns for our community’s children — supporters of the books concerned children will be denied information they see as valuable, opponents of the books concerned children will be exposed to themes they’re too young to understand and shouldn’t see. Supporters believe the community has a First Amendment right to access those books, while opponents believe concerns over children’s well-being trumps those rights.

We believe both the library leaders and the county board are trying to do what they believe to be the right thing.

Each side needs to recognize that about the other, and perhaps that could lead to real conversations that might yield meaningful compromise on the controversial books.

Compromise is the best way to solve problems in the public sphere, because all sides, as voters and taxpayers in Alpena County, have a right to help form a public library that meets their needs and serves their interests.

When those needs and interests conflict, and when that conflict breeds contempt, finding some kind of middle ground is the best way to bring the community closer to healing.