There have been times in the past when I have been critical of the Indianapolis Star, particularly during periods of time when the newspaper’s owner, Gannett, has laid-ff journalists. The Star’s staff of journalists is much smaller than years ago.
I am going to compliment the Star here and now. I am issuing kudos for the reporter Rachel Fradette and the Star’s editors that provided her the time to write a long-form piece about the Hamilton East Library Board.
The Board made international news recently when best selling author, and Indianapolis area native, John Green publicly took issue with the Board’s policy of reviewing every book in the young adult section based on standards the board wrote about content in those books.
Reporter Rachel talks to a number of sources in this piece, published on the Star’s Web site Thursday morning. One important source she cites are teens themselves. She points out that the library has a teen advisory group that was never consulted about the young adult book section review.
Anyone interested in the Hamilton East Libraries, serving Fishers & Noblesville, should read this article. In fact, anyone interested in libraries and their policies should read this piece. It is well sourced and well written.
You can read the article at this link.
The only reason the Star is able to produce this kind of journalism is because people subscribe. I have seen many comments about the rising cost of a print subscription to the Star. However, online IndyStar subscriptions are not that expensive. In order for the Star to continue with coverage like this, it needs subscribers. Once again, I urge everyone – subscribe to your local media!
I still subscribe to the Star as they have excellent writers. They’ve blown open cases like Larry Nassar that made international news and sent a monster hiding behind the term “doctor” to jail. I will never forget reading their first article (I think it was 2015 or so) from end to end, thinking to myself – this is a big deal. My daughter was a competitive gymnast and I knew USAG was big into “trust your coach and organization no matter what.” The story took a long time to take off because not enough people read the story – it took it going into the regular news and internet before it took off. I’m also a big Greg Doyle fan (sports writer for the Star). He wrote an amazing article where his own research uncovered a book moved from to the adult section that told the story of the Crispus Attucks High School becoming the first all-Black school to win a State Championship in 1955 – 9 years before the first Civil Rights Acts. As a Fishers resident, I was ashamed.
Article not available unless you subscribe to Indy Star
The only reason the Star is able to produce this kind of journalism is because people subscribe.
Thanks for the link, Larry! As I do subscribe to the Star News, I have access.
Thanks to the Indy Star for keeping up with this ongoing issue in our libraries. A pause is not enough; there are 1,500 books already censored out of the teen area! Yes, those books must be returned to the shelves where they belong. It is time to vote blue in the suburbs to have a more balanced voice to bring things back to common sense instead of all of the hate and culture wars brought to you by groups like ADF and MFL by the ultra-right conservatives and embedded in our school boards and library board. Remember that many current Fishers leaders supported candidates recommended by MFL (a known hate group). Let us elect some new leaders into positions in Fishers who believe in the democratic process of bipartisan discussions. We need more balance in the suburbs (especially in Fishers). Vote for the record number of Democrats running right now! Janet Pritchett, Bill McLellan, Crystal Neumann, Lane Skeeters, Bill Stuart, and Samantha R. Chapman. When selecting up to three council members, remember you may select just the two members you want and give them a better chance to be elected – Howard Stevenson and Jocelyn Vare. These candidates may not have the most yard signs, but you can listen to them on one of Larrys’ many podcasts. These candidates will work for all of us in our small city.
Erika, what benefit do you think foul language and pornography provides society…and not just adolescents?
This was the case of a bunch of crazy adults wasting a ton of taxpayer dollars to rid our kids of books they don’t like. My kids are honor level high school students. Like 95% of kids their age, they don’t read books. If they wanted to get foul language and pornography, they would reach into their pockets and grab their phone or grab their iPad. Insane to waste time on removing some Judy Blume type book from the teen section. Parents can much easier monitor a book then they can what their kids consume online. Just embarrassing for the city to have wasted time and money on this.
Please read the Collection Development Policy again, and perhaps consider that your standards of language and lewdness should not be the measuring stick by which public library books are judged.
The CDP relocates books based on language, crimes, and sex. All of which are extremely overbroad in definition. In middle school (12-14 yrs old) I read dozens of books by Tom Clancy, Agatha Christie, Clive Cussler, etc. All of which featured crimes, sexual situations, etc. I don’t know what you’re imagining in your head when you think of what “porn” the kids are being protected from, but it’s obvious that the policy is nonfunctional and poorly considered in the best case.
And the cherry on top is that of course anybody can still check these books out, which they should be able to. The books have just been reshelved at enormous cost. If any parent were concerned about what their children were reading, you can monitor all of that on your library account or be at the library with them. This policy change is basically non-functional any way you look at it.
There is so much nonsense in the Star’s coverage I don’t know where to begin.
There were 2 books that the library was asked to review and move.
The librarian would not move them.
Instead she moved the ENTIRE youth non fiction section. It was for show. She still won’t answer why that was done.
Because she apparently can’t understand that graphic pictorial books with animated characters engaged in every manner of sexual activity, with recommendations that kids engage in kink chatrooms anonymously or text naked pictures of themselves to strangers is inappropriate, it became clear we would need to prepare her specific instructions.
That endeavor went way off track. It is really difficult to write policy to define obscenity.
Clearly we needed to take a pause. And we did.
But to act like any of this had anything to do with anything other than a staff that decided they didn’t want ANY public involvement in their activities is false.
When the fiction books started moving, there was no involvement from Board members. Clearly it was more show to create a false narrative. I would LOVE to know who called John Green to tell them that they were going to move his book. More show.
Republicans need to show up at meetings and see for themselves what goes on in these meetings – meetings that now require police presence because of the potential of mayhem that goes on with characters from out of the area who yell and shout and have to be removed.
Vote Republican to send a message for civility and honesty. You won’t get it from the Star or from this site. These people don’t do the hard investigation or ask the right questions.
You will have to do it on your own.
The library board is appointed, not elected, and is supposed to be nonpartisan. Censorship is an issue that concerns everyone, regardless of political party, so don’t make this about Republican c
Meeting minutes are public as are library policies.
Professional librarians review and make a decision about whether to remove a book. Telling them to “review and remove” specific books undermines their professional judgment and expertise.
A collection development policy is one of a library’s most important documents. The board should have taken the time to do it right.
One addition: not one book is banned OR inaccessible to any patron. Youth patrons are welcome to use and check out any book from either the youth or the general collection.