And a week later Cumberland Council has voted to repeal the book ban 13-2. Even two of the OLC councillors crossed the floor in the end, leaving Sarkis and Christou alone in defeat.
So it seems the petitions and protesting seems to have helped - as well as pressure from both sides of state government.
Plenty of people addressed council, and many of them did live or work in the area (a few did not, which Christou is predictably trying to turn into a "people from outside our community pushing their values on you" talking point - but he's exaggerating here).