There are perils in writing a news blog all by yourself. Not complaining, just saying when family comes first, I can be out of pocket for many hours at a time and try to update when there is an opportunity.
Let me be clear, my grandson’s third birthday is my first priority and wouldn’t miss that for anything.
But that does put me behind on a local news story that has had rapid developments the past few days – the Hamilton East Library, with buildings in Fishers & Noblesville.
The library board ordered a review of books in the teen section, using orders from the board on what books are not to be shelved in the teen section.
Famous author, and Indianapolis area resident John Green discovered one of his books, “The Fault In Our Stars,” had been removed from the teen collection as part of that board-ordered review.
Now, the board president says it was all a mistake.
Hamilton East Library Board President Laura Alerding issued the following statement:
“Upon reviewing the page(s) of ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ book that were the basis of the Director’s and review staff’s reason to move the book out of the Teen section, I believe there was an error in implementing the Collection Development Policy and that this book should be moved back to the Teen section immediately. The Board of Trustees will discuss further what went wrong with the review process at the next public board meeting.”
The next regularly scheduled public meeting of the Hamilton East Library Board is Thursday, August 24, 6:15pm, at the Noblesville Library.
Unfortunately, the mistake is in the policy. Per the policy, repeated use of certain profane words can cause a book to be moved to the adult section. TFIOS has 37 religious exclamations; 12 mild obscenities; 8 religious profanities; 15 derogatory names; 33 scatological words; 15 anatomical terms; 1 f-word derivative according to compassbookratings.com. This is on top of a mention of sex which the board has indicated there should be zero tolerance for.
In short – the book failed the policy, so if the librarians don’t move it, they risk being fired. After all, one board member told the library director she could easily be replaced if they don’t apply this policy.
It’s sad that every time a book starts getting a lot of negative press, it suddenly is declared “a mistake”. Again, maybe the mistake is that the policy doesn’t reflect teen literature. Or maybe that teen books shouldn’t be put in the adult section.
If a policy can’t be applied consistently, then the problem isn’t with those applying it, but with the policy itself.
Thanks for the update LarryInFishers. This is good news.
Perhaps the HEPL board should have left classifying and shelving books to the people who have devoted their professional lives to properly classifying and shelving books. You know, the professional librarians, with advanced degrees and all. This has all been part of the modern partisan rejection of professionalism: Whether it’s teachers, librarians, climate scientists, epidemiologists, any academic, even law enforcement (but only at the Federal level), there is this pervasive notion among those of a certain political bent that change and progress is driven by the ephemeral ideal of “wokeness” rather than by anything real. They’re wrong and they will be left behind, it will just take a little longer in places like Indiana.
The language in TFIOS is heard every day in the hallways at school on playgrounds and in neighborhoods in which they live. The problem is is policy is wrong and restricts 1st amendment rights of children. The policy and those responsible for its adoption need to be removed.
The book was removed for the F word and B word. So according to there own policy is should be in the adult section. Look at the additional books that were removed due to the library board’s overreaching policy.
– A 2nd book about teens with cancer
– A book about the holocaust
– 2 books about Asian Americans
– 2 books about Malcolm X
– And a book about teenage activism.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8NUS66M/
How do I see a list of all the books removed so far… “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter” was a great book! I hope the author of TFIOS will stay involved and help with these other titles too!
Here is the list they released as of July 19th, the most recent list I know of. https://www.hepl.lib.in.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/HEPL-Board-Meeting-July-27-Documents-2.pdf
You’ll have to scroll down to page 119 to find the list.
I also don’t know how much this will help anyone, but the library does have a Request for Reconsideration form you can submit. It appears you have to print it out to fill it. Then either mail it or scan the completed form and e-mail it. It says you’ll get a response in writing within 6 weeks. Again, I can’t imagine anything will come of it if you submit one of these but it’s there.
https://www.hepl.lib.in.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Request-for-Reconsideration-rev-012023.pdf