HEPL board president announces resignation; book moving policy nixed
The Hamilton East Public Library Board President Tiffanie Ditlevson Thursday announced she would resign.
Her last day on the board will be Dec. 31. She was elected to the Fishers City Council on Nov. 7 and her term there will begin Jan. 1.
After her announcement, the library board selected Craig Siebe as president and Ditlevson as vice president.
Her decision was announced after the board nixed its controversial book relocation policy that had embroiled the community in fierce and often ugly debate for nearly two years while casting the northern suburbs as a hotbed of the national culture wars. Thursday the board shared results of a survey that found that only a small minority of respondents wanted to continue the current policy.
Before the vote, Ditlevson questioned the thoroughness of the survey and how representative it was of the public at large. A conservative, she suggested a more exhaustive survey.
"Just know that we are not listening to some people in the community," Ditlevson said. "That is the feedback I get."
The board voted 5-1 with Ditlevson abstaining and Micah Beckwith voting against the move to end the program that relocated books from the young adult shelves to the adult stacks. It had been on hold since August when the staunch conservatives who passed the measure last December lost majority control of the board.
The board voted to adopt a plan proposed by member Michelle Payne that is expected to return the books that were moved back to the young adults section.
“We must resolve the Collection Development Policy to begin anew in 2024,” Payne wrote in the report. “The topic has consumed our conversations and collective energy during the past two years.”
Library Director Edra Waterman, who recently announced she will be leaving her post after 12 years on Dec, 22, said she expected a great majority of the books that were moved to be returned. Waterman has taken a job with the Anderson Public Library and her first day there is Jan. 8.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Hamilton East library board president Tiffanie Ditlevson resigns
