Town Dumps Library Logo After Complaints It Resembles a Rainbow
A North Carolina town dropped its library's logo after residents complained its colors suggested LGBTQ support.
The Farmville Public Library logo does not resemble a traditional rainbow. It depicts an open book with multicolored pages and a spine in shades of teal, blue, magenta, lime green, orange, purple, and yellow, arranged in no particular order.
But three residents reportedly objected to the logo over concerns that its colors could be interpreted as a show of support for the LGBTQ community. After receiving their complaints, a town commissioner asked the town manager to remove the 14-year-old logo.
The logo was subsequently removed without public debate or discussion, surprising other local officials, including Farmville Mayor Alex Joyner.
“Rainbows are a significant symbol of libraries across the entire U.S. — I believe we all grew up with Reading Rainbow,” Joyner said, referencing the popular PBS children’s series that aired from 1983 to 2006. “To see an action like this take place in the dead of night behind a curtain is really concerning.”
He told Greenville, N.C.-based ABC affiliate WCTI that “choices and decisions like this should be made in the public eye and with public comment.”
Joyner added that he is concerned about what the decision could mean for the library’s role in the community.
“The library is a symbol of inclusion and is supposed to be welcome to all,” he said. “For a handful of people to be able to decide who is welcomed and who is not here, is unacceptable in my eyes. I would hate for the town of Farmville, and especially the board of commissioners, to be seen on the wrong side of that decision for civil rights.”
But Farmville Town Manager Andrew Delonno offered a different explanation, saying the library was asked to update its logo to align with the town’s branding, not because of its rainbow-like colors.
Delonno told Greenville-based NBC affiliate WITN that the town has spent more than $300,000 on branding and that, until recently, the library was the only town department that did not incorporate Farmville’s new “F” into its logo.
Farmville resident AC Salaam told WITN that most people probably won’t notice the logo change, but said she shares Joyner’s concerns about prejudice in the town.
“In 2026, we should have this enough to respect all people and their decisions and the way they conduct themselves,” Salaam said. “We have no right to interfere with another individual’s life.”
Residents will have an opportunity to weigh in on the logo’s removal at the town’s November 2 Board of Commissioners meeting.
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