The August Noblesville School Board meeting was one for the record books.
Not since the meeting in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic have there been so many people lined up to give public comment. Twenty-six people signed up to speak and the topic was exclusively the appointment to the Hamilton East Public Library (HEPL) Board. What is usually a 45-minute session had to be extended so that all persons interested could speak.
The comments were almost evenly split between those who supported the current library board member and those who opposed re-appointing that person.
Some of the reasons given for opposing the current appointment included the belief that the head librarian is the person best suited to decide the proper placement of books, parents are the ones who should decide what their children can read, the Collection Development Policy is restrictive and exclusive, the policies put in place are based on an individual’s ideology, and the majority on the board is trying to impose their morals and beliefs on others.
Those who supported the current appointee and the current Collection Development Policy spoke to their belief that the books being questioned are not age-appropriate, the school has a similar policy in place for what students can watch on their iPads, some books that were moved were not as a result of the policy but rather the misunderstanding of the policy by the library employees, and parents are the ones to decide what their children should read and at what age.
I support the right of every parent to decide what they want to teach their children and what is appropriate for their children to read and see. I may not understand or agree with every parent’s choice but that is their right.
Conversely, I do not believe that other parents have the right to determine what my child or grandchildren should be exposed to. I also know that one cannot unsee what they have seen.
Finally, I believe that the Noblesville School Board of Trustees’ first responsibility is to do what is best for the children and that should be their sole consideration.
Unfortunately, the School Board voted, in a 3-2 vote, to oust the current HEPL board member and replace her with someone very likely to undo the good that has been done by the current board. Ironically, some of the very people who said that parents should be the ones to decide would deny the rights of parents they did not agree with. Those people who accused the current appointee of being ideologically driven failed to see how their ideology drove their opinions.
I believe that the current Collection Development Policy achieved a balanced “compromise” that would respect the rights and beliefs of both sides of the argument.
But I guess “compromise” has become a dirty word.