It is a uniquely human experience to reach for a book, to escape to other worlds, to fall in love over and over again with worlds, characters, plots, where readers learn to love, to hate, and to learn from are integral parts of people’s lives. But recently, students in Hamilton County could be faced with a fight to retain their access to some literature.
This past summer, Hamilton East Public Library (HEPL) rolled out a new policy regarding young adult fiction content, requiring that books with an excessive amount of what a reveiwer determines to be inappropriate content be moved to other parts of the library. This issue has taken Noblesville by storm, causing controversy and effectively dividing the community into two sides: those who support the library book review, and those who believe it censors literature. Although the policy has recently been put on pause, divisions continue to persist in the community. Noblesville resident and member of the library board Michelle Payne has been expressing her perspective on the issue for many to see. Payne commissioned a mural to be painted on her garage door that reads, “Open books, open minds.” The artist who created the mural, Karmen Johnson, feels equally strongly about the issue, despite not being a Noblesville resident.
“Shielding teens from the world is not going to help them grow. These books are meant to reflect the realities of life and not meant to be perfect fairy tales.” Johnson said.
In the opinion of Payne, shielding children from everything a reviewer deems inappropriate is simply impossible for parents, considering today’s technology. Payne believes that, rather than placing responsibility on the library to monitor children’s reading, parents should take charge of it. This is one of the reasons Payne commissioned the mural.
“Without a doubt, I believe in the freedom to read. As an adult, it’s a personal decision what I read. As a parent, it’s a family decision what my daughters read. Each family is different.” Payne said. “Being open-minded allows a community to respect one another’s differences, even if we don’t agree.”
Payne believes that the differences in what’s deemed appropriate from family to family is simply too vast. And Johnson says that it would be nearly impossible to satisfy every member of Noblesville’s community, and still keep books on the shelves.
“[Payne] has been a huge advocate for authors, librarians, and literary freedom,” Johnson said. “[She] requested a mural that symbolizes her belief that these stories should be accessible so they can continue to inspire young minds.”
The new book review policies have taken nearly two thousand books off of the shelves, with some being moved, and others still being under review. The most affected area of the library by this policy is the Teen Zone, which is mainly used by high school age students at the Hamilton East Public Library, such as sophomore Quinn Melton, a frequent visitor to the Teen Zone.
“Stories with sexual content are typically meant for older readers, such as young adults and adults. The author is going to assume the audience is older because of this, and include deeper plots and more meaningful messages,” said Melton.
While almost everyone has read some sort of book that their parents would consider explicit, the lessons found in these books are invaluable, according to Johnson.
“I read the same books as a teen, and never once questioned if they were appropriate for my age,” Johnson said. “They may have a few lines of ‘explicit content,’ but the moral of the story was what I took away from them and what stuck with me over the years.”
Johnson believes that coming to one consensus on what is and is not inappropriate is impossible. According to Johnson, it’s too subjective of a topic, so while children should absolutely be protected from things above their age range, teenagers should be able to have some control of what they read.
The negative publicity revolving around the review policy drew national attention, from famous authors and news networks alike. The newest library board appointee, Bill Kenley, NHS English teacher, believes that the publicity is a source of unwanted attention for Noblesville, and that the town is better than the publicity it’s been receiving as of late.
“I thought it was an embarrassment in terms of how it drew national attention to Noblesville,” said Kenley.
This negative exposure creates a challenging environment that Kenley, as a newly elected Library Board member, says he must help to quell. Despite this, Kenley has ideas about what exactly needs to be done.
“I plan to trust librarians. I plan to trust the procedures that the libraries have had in place for a long time,” Kenley said.
Payne says that while she is not speaking for the library board, or HEPL employees as a whole, she is hopeful that the community will come together, and encourages people to keep going to libraries, to keep learning and growing, and making memories.
“The library inspires visitors, both children and adults, to find [and] to keep a love for books and reading. Libraries are safe places where many people have fond childhood memories of story hours or summer reading programs or a special librarian who was kind to them.” Payne said. “The library plays an important role in our community because it’s the home of countless ideas upon the shelves. It’s a place of enlightenment.”
