National free speech group joins criticism over relocated books at Hartland library

PEN America, a national organization focused on celebrating and defending creative expression, is joining the ACLU of Michigan in speaking out against the Hartland Cromaine District Library Board’s decision to move more than 100 books to its adult section without a review.

During its meeting in May, trustees overseeing the Hartland library voted 4-1 to reshelve 148 titles, many of which featured LGBTQ+ content. While Library Director Sarah Neidert made a determination on a challenge to more than 200 books, the board agreed to read all of them after it received a letter appealing Neidert’s decisions.

At the time of the vote, the board had read 58 of the challenged books.

“Reshelving books is the latest maneuver to undermine access to topics public officials don’t want children or young adults to read. This is extremely troubling amid the rising atmosphere of censorship that has seen 23,000 instances of book bans in schools nationwide since 2021,” Kasey Meehan, director of the group’s Freedom to Read program, said in a statement. “By relocating books to the adult section, these titles are unlikely to be read by the audiences they were intended for – children and young adults.”

Following the board’s decision to reshelve the unreviewed titles, Jay Kaplan, a longtime attorney with the ACLU of Michigan’s LGBTQ+ Project, sent them a letter. He argued the board had abandoned its process for reviewing a book challenge appeal, which requires members “have access to and completely read or review the challenged material.”

“Given this disregard for the review process that the Board promulgated, coupled with previous statements by some Trustees that they are opposed to LGBTQ related materials, we believe that the recent action by the Board raises serious due process and First Amendment issues,” Kaplan wrote in the letter.

A request for comment was sent to Jeannine Gogoleski, president of the library’s board of trustees, but no response was received. If a response is received, this story will be updated.

Both ACLU Michigan and PEN America have called on the board of trustees to reverse its decision, with PEN America noting that a lack of review prevents the board from considering factors like age relevance and literary merit.

“We urge the Cromaine District Library’s Board of Trustees to return all reclassified titles back to the children and young adults section and follow their policies around book reconsideration and appeals for all submitted challenges,” Meehan said. “Restricting and removing access, based on content, is a threat to free expression and erodes the constitutional rights of Michiganders.”