Indiana library suspends book removal policy targeting sexually explicit content following widespread criticism

---

Hamilton East Public Library, in the northern suburbs of Indianapolis, enacted a policy that removed books containing sexually explicit content from the young adult sections of its branches. The policy was removed following national scrutiny largely fueled by bestselling author John Green, whose work was affected by the policy. 

Key Players

Hamilton East Public Library has two locations in Fishers and Noblesville, Indiana. Seven members serve on the board of trustees. 

John Green is an author and philanthropist known for his work in young adult fiction. His career has spanned two decades; he landed his first publishing contract in 2003 for his novel Looking for Alaska. Green achieved breakout success in 2012 with The Fault in Our Stars, a young adult fiction novel set in Indianapolis, where he was born and still resides, that details the story of two teenagers with cancer. 

Kelsey Sweet, the director of marketing and communications for Hamilton East Public Library, has held that position since June 2022. 

Laura Alerding, a Noblesville school board member, served as president of Hamilton East Public Library’s board of trustees until August 2023.

Further Details

In April 2023, Hamilton East Library introduced guidelines for the classification of its books. In the young adult section, “the Library will work to ensure that collections are age appropriate in topic and placement of materials,” the policy states.

The library considers “factors such as nudity, alcohol and drug use, repeated use of profanity, depictions or incitement to violence and sexual content in determining what is ‘age appropriate,’” NBC News reported.

The review process incurred a cost of $300,000 in hiring staff to review 18,000 volumes — approximately half of the library’s young adult novels — suspected of containing sexually explicit content, FOX59 said. 

Relocated books in the general collection faced the possibility of further evaluation. Through the library’s request form, patrons can “object to the placement of any item in the collection,” Sweet wrote in an email to NBC News. 

Shortly after this news broke, protesters gathered outside the Library’s Noblesville location. Cathy Sutton, a Noblesville resident and former librarian of 32 years, claimed the changes involved “a ridiculous amount of money.”  

Among the thousands of books removed from the young adult section was The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green, deemed inappropriate for its portrayal of the romantic relationship between the novel’s main characters.

On Aug. 9, Green took to X — formerly known as Twitter — calling the decision to relocate his critically acclaimed novel and various classics “ludicrous” and “an embarrassment.” While most echoed Green’s sentiment, with one user likening the incident to “going back to the dark ages,” response to the tweet was not unanimous. 

“So it’s still in the library, easily searchable, and available for anyone to read? Yeah John the oppression is brutal” a user tweeted. 

In a letter posted to X later that day, Green directed a lengthy statement to the Library’s board of trustees, describing the policy as a “shameful intervention” and saying that the “highly-trained experts” — librarians and teachers — whom the cities “pay with public money” do “agree that these books should be shelved as Young Adult literature.” Green emphasized viewpoints from his perspectives as a business owner, parent, and local author, claiming the library demonstrated a lack of professionalism and inaccurately depicted his work.

“I am so disappointed that you would use public time and public resources to engage in work that actively harms the public through censorship,” Green wrote.

Sweet wrote in another email to NBC News that The Fault in Our Stars is still labeled as a novel for young adult audiences in the library’s online catalog and “is available to check out in print, audio, and electronic formats.” 

Outcome 

Hamilton East Public Library Board president removed

On Aug. 15, the Noblesville School Board voted to remove Alerding. 

Two days prior, Alerding claimed that when the board of trustees reviewed The Fault in Our Stars, “there was an error in implementing the Collection Development Policy and that this book should be moved back to the Teen section immediately,” 13News Sunday reported.

“Change the policy not just for TFIOS, but for all,” Green responded on X. 

Alerding was replaced by Bill Kenley, who has taught English at Noblesville High School for over 20 years.

Hamilton East Public Library policy suspended after national scrutiny

On Aug. 24, the board of trustees elected to suspend the collection development policy. FOX59 reported that, at the time of suspension, the review process was 37% complete, with over 3,600 books reviewed. Relocated books will remain in the general collection.

Following Green’s tweets, knowledge of the policy generated widespread criticism. 

“They say they are not banning books, but this is a type of censorship,” visitor Heather Garrison said, claiming that the policy’s review process was inconsistent and lacked standard criteria for differentiating one controversial novel from another.

Another visitor, Stephanie Hunt, called the policy “hateful behavior.” In removing novels detailing important life experiences from the young adult section, “they are essentially trying to censor and keep kids from being exposed to things and trying to force their religious agendas on families that don’t necessarily agree with that,” she told FOX59.

A petition demanding to “stop censorship at Hamilton East Public Library” gained hundreds of signatures. 

“Members of the board are hearing the various sides and we’re looking at it from all the different angles so that our whole community can be represented in our ultimate decision,” said board member Andre Mishka, who strongly supported the decision.