Bill Kenley is replacing Laura Alerding as the New HEPL Library Board President. Kenley is a 25-year school system veteran — and an English Teacher at Noblesville High School. Very fitting for a library board position.
The outbound president Alerding has a few more meetings ahead of her:
The regular monthly library meeting (details on this below)
Two special meetings to discuss an unnamed individual’s performance
Some speculate these could be about library director Edra Waterman. Alerding has been very public that misjudging books is the library staff’s fault. Not the boards. This includes books like John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars.
Here is her full quote:
“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.”
- Library Board President Laura Alerding on August 13th, 2023
For situation awareness, for Fishers and Noblesville share a library system. The Noblesville School Board appoints the President and Vice President. With Laura’s term expiring this month — the board took a vote ending in 3-2.
Over 25 people came up to speak during public comment. About half supported the current policy of moving books with “obscene material”. Basically, any book that contains cussing or sexual content of any kind is considered obscene and grounds to be moved. A 50/50 split means it is truly anyone's guess on what happens next. If you want to be part of it, here are the next meeting details:
HEPL Board Meeting | Thursday, August 24 | 6:15 pm | 1 Library Plaza, Noblesville, IN 46060 (Noblesville Library)
