Amid backlash, HamCo library puts John Green's 'The Fault in Our Stars' back in teen section

The Hamilton County library will put Indiana author John Green’s “The Fault in Our Stars” back into the teen section after transferring it to the adult reading area last week.

The fault in our shelves: Library, school boards reviewing teen book relocation policy

Hamilton East Public Library Board President Laura Alerding blamed the removal on the library staff and Director Edra Waterman, whom she said had misinterpreted the board’s new book relocation policy.

“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,” Alerding said in an email to IndyStar.

Previous coverage: Here's what John Green wrote to the Hamilton East Public Library board about moving teen books

“The Board of Trustees will discuss further what went wrong with the review process at the next public board meeting,” the statement reads.

The book’s removal sparked outrage last week and prompted Green to write a scathing letter to library board members in which he said he was “horrified,” “infuriated,” and “disgusted.”

“It is political theater of the lowest and most embarrassing order and its (sic) an awful way to have Fishers and Noblesville make national news,” Green said in the email, which he shared on his X/Twitter feed last week.

From 2022: Author John Green could live anywhere. This video explains why Indy is his 'somewhere'

In another post on X/Twitter, Green said he was encouraged his book was re-shelved but said the board shouldn't stop there.

"Cool. What about my other books and hundreds of other YA titles?" he wrote. "Award-winning classics of YA lit by everyone from Nic Stone to Judy Blume continue to be wrong shelved by a ridiculous policy that embarrasses Central Indiana. Change the policy not just for TFIOS, but for all."

Green said he'd like to speak with board members and local lawmakers but none had, so far, returned his emails or phone calls.

HEPL: Hamilton East library president, who pushed book review policy, is removed from board

The board's new conservative majority passed a controversial policy in December to move some books deemed not “age appropriate” from teen shelves to the system’s adult sections in the Noblesville and Fishers libraries.

“Any instance of visual depiction of sexual nudity as described or any level of written description, even incidental, of sexual conduct as described” would mean a book should be moved, the library’s interpretation of the policy reads.

Another teen author, Kelly Yang, posted a TikTok objecting to the board moving her novel, "Private Label," from the teen section. She said the book is about a 17-year-old Asian-American girl whose mother gets cancer and the daughter has to take over her fashion design company.

"I urge the trustees to remember their roles in society," she said in the video. "It is not to judge, not to move and hide books. It is to serve everyone."

"At a time when teens are going through so much, it’s unfathomable to me to gut a YA section," she wrote in a text with the video.

Call reporter John Tuohy at 317-444-6418. Email at john.tuohy@indystar.com and follow on Twitter @john_tuohy and Facebook.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: John Green's 'The Fault in Our Stars' back in teen section at HamCo library