Eastern, Greentown Public Library in gray area with book banning bill

Jul. 20—GREENTOWN — Eastern Howard School Corporation and the Greentown Public Library have a relationship that is unlike any other in the state.

The library is the town's public library. It is funded by property taxes, has its own library board and a full staff of librarians.

The Greentown Public Library is also the school library for Eastern. There is a wing at the high school and one for younger grades, also on the school campus.

Students and patrons can use the library at the same time.

"Adults can walk right in, just like a normal public library," said Eastern Superintendent Keith Richie.

The library is one of the most popular spots in school. It's a go-to lunch location. The library is also a well-used resource for families as programs often draw hundreds of parents and children from the community.

A public library that doubles as a school library is a unique dynamic, and by all accounts, Greentown is the only place in Indiana where this is the case.

The partnership between the school and the town library is a point of pride for both entities.

"We're able to reach so many kids by being in the school," said Mindy Hobensack, director of the Greentown Public Library.

But a new book banning law has complicated matters.

New requirements for school libraries

House Bill 1447, which was signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb, requires school libraries to publicly post their entire catalogues, establish a review process for people who want to challenge a book they think is harmful to children and removes the educational defense for school employees who share "obscene" or "harmful" materials with children.

The law only applies to school libraries. This is where things get muddy.

The Greentown Public Library functions as both a school library and public library. Hobensack said previous conversations with people at the state level have indicated the library is considered a public one, for the most part.

But school and library officials are moving forward under the assumption the new law applies to the Greentown library, as it would any school library.

Most requirements were already in place, prior to them becoming law.

The library's entire catalogue is available online at http://greentownlib.org/.

Since the new law has been on the books, library staff have also compiled an entire printed list of materials. It fills multiple three-ring binders.

"It'd take weeks to go through it all and see if any were inappropriate," Richie said.

Eastern is also working on getting the catalogue on the school's website.

The library has a challenge process in place. A person submits a form, including the book's title, their concerns with it and what action they'd like the library board to take.

The review then goes to the library board, which has the final say. A school board member also reviews the challenge.

The library board can choose to remove the title, move it to a different section or take no action.

But what if the library board and school board do not agree about a challenged book?

This is a question without an answer, and the law certainly wasn't written with Eastern in mind.

"It is a gray area because we're the only library in the state that runs this way," Hobensack said.

"We are in a different predicament than any other school," Richie added.

Not sweating it

Challenges are rare at the Greentown library. Hobensack said there have only been four or five since she became director in 2017.

School and library officials said they're confident if a situation does arise, both parties will be able to work out a solution that keeps the best interest of kids at the forefront and maintains the relationship between the school and library.

"Our whole purpose is about kids and kids' safety," Hobensack said.

The library board includes a couple teachers. School board member Sheryl Dean, who serves as a sort of liaison between the two boards, is a former library trustee.

"It doesn't concern me so much," Richie said. "I don't lose sleep over it, because I know we will work it out."

The superintendent said he expects more challenges in the future, though, due to the new law.

"At some point in time, someone is going to get dinged," Richie said.

There's also the matter of the end of the educational defense. This doesn't apply to Hobensack or library staff since they are library employees, not employees of the school.

"It will come back on me as superintendent if there is a book in here that some parent doesn't like," Richie said.

Even then, it's an issue Richie and Eastern, and Hobensack and the library, intend to navigate together. The value of having a public library housed in a school is too valuable not to.

Richie said Eastern students have access to more books and resources compared to the typical student at another school.

There's also more staff to assist students. The high school branch of the library has two to three library staff. The same goes for the elementary branch.

"With everyone, there is a lot more eyeballs on our students," Richie said.

Book bans, challenges ramp up

HB 1447 was led by Republicans who claimed it responded to concerns about pornography in schools. However, WFYI, an Indianapolis-based PBS TV station, noted there is little proof that obscene materials are a major problem in schools.

The language concerning school library materials was added to the bill — which is mostly about student surveys — behind closed doors, according to WFYI. The changes were brought to the legislative floor for a vote without public input.

State Republicans have held up books discussing LGTBQ+ themes and characters as inappropriate. This is similar to how other Republican state legislatures across the country have claimed books discussing race, sex and gender are inappropriate in an effort to pass similar legislation.

The law comes at a time when book bans and challenges continue to rise.

Book challenges doubled in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to the American Library Association.

Books about people of color and LGTBQ+ themes are a frequent target.

PEN America, a free speech advocacy organization, reported similar findings.

Book bans increased 28% during the first half of last school year, compared to the previous six months. It's also more than either half of the 2021-22 school year.

Despite efforts to remove books — not only at a local level, but also through state legislation — confidence in libraries remains high.

Three quarters of public-school parents said they are confident in school librarians to make good decisions about which books are available to children, according to a survey by the American Library Association.

The survey found that among those parents, the majority supported children having access to age-appropriate books about race, novels that portray police violence against Black people and writings about LGTBQ+ individuals.

Spencer Durham can be reached at 765-454-8598, by email at spencer.durham@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @Durham_KT.