HAMILTON COUNTY, Ind. — The Hamilton East Public Library and outgoing board president Laura Alerding have both received international attention for a policy of reviewing young adult books and moving many to the adult section.
Indianapolis author John Green spoke out after his young adult novel “The Fault in our Stars” was removed from the teen section.
The Hamilton East Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting took place Thursday afternoon to discuss the issues.
The board decided to suspend the "Collection Development Policy and Implementation," which is the process by which young adult books are reviewed and possibly moved to the adult section.
The policy states: "Written material containing explicit descriptions of sexual conduct (including masturbation, vaginal sex, oral sex, anal sex, oral-anal sex, the use of sex toys, ejaculation, and sadomasochistic abuse) will not be shelved in the Juvenile/Youth, Middle School, and High School sections."
As of Aug. 17, the vetting of 11,000 books was about 37% done.
Green's "The Fault in Our Stars" is the story a young cancer patient who falls in love with another cancer patient in her support group. The book contains a description of the two main characters having sex involving a condom.
The board meeting document for the Aug. 24 meeting states, "The description of this sexual conduct is not graphic or detailed, but it is explicit as defined above and therefore in conflict with the policy, making this title ineligible to be shelved in the High School collection under the current policy."
The book was moved to the adult section in May. It was reported to the board in June.
(NOTE: In the below document, the list of books removed is shown beginning on page 106. The explanation for moving "The Fault in our Stars" is shown on page 154)
In early August, news of the move broke as Green posted on social media about his frustration with the policy.
"The Fault in Our Stars has been removed from the YA section in the suburbs of Indianapolis and is now considered a 'book for adults.' This is ludicrous. It is about teenagers and I wrote it for teenagers. Teenagers are not harmed by reading TFIOS. This is such an embarrassment to the city of Fishers," Green posted.
Green went on to post: "I only have a small voice in these decisions, of course, but you won't catch me alive or dead in Fishers, Indiana until these ridiculous policies are revoked."
Days later, the Fishers library board president cited an "error" in removing Green's 'The Fault in Our Stars' from the teen section.
"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."
In a post on social media, Green responded to the news:
"Cool. What about my other books and hundreds of other YA titles? Award-winning classics of YA lit by everyone from Nic Stone to Judy Blume continue to be wrong shelved by a ridiculous policy that embarrasses Central Indiana. Change the policy not just for TFIOS, but for all."
On Saturday, Green again addressed the issue with a post on social media. Green called what is happening a "crisis" and said the library director should not be punished for doing her job. Green said the policy to review and move books out of the young adult section should be "walked back."
Library director Edra Waterman has faced some criticism from the current board majority. She is responsible for implementing the board’s review policy. Supporters are concerned that library board president Alerding will move to fire Waterman before Alerding is replaced.
It was the Noblesville School Board that decided to replace Alerding. It selected Noblesville High School English Teacher Bill Kenley. The Noblesville School Board and Hamilton Southeastern School Board take turns appointing members to the HEPL board.
Kenley has not taken a public position on the library’s review policy. Library staff has been reviewing books in the young adult section and removing any with “inappropriate” content.
According to documents from the board’s July meeting, about 75% of the books they’ve reviewed have been moved from the young adult section to the general section. They have reviewed just over a quarter of the books in the young adult section so far.
Thursday's public meeting will be held at the Noblesville Library at 3 p.m.