Mike Wolanin | The Republic A view of bookshelves in the teen section of the Bartholomew County Public Library in Columbus, Ind., Friday, Oct. 21, 2022.
The Bartholomew County Public Library teen subcommittee has proposed that the library’s teen section be moved to the opposite side of the adult nonfiction section of the building to give it more space, to more clearly separate the section from other areas and also to allow for better monitoring by staff.
The subcommittee also has proposed that the Indiana Room become the teen programming space, where a teen librarian would be located.
In the proposal, adult graphic novels will be moved to where the DVDs are now located.
“Special care will be taken to be thoughtful about the proximity of the various teen subcollections and other collections,” the proposal reads in part.
Jason Hatton, library director, introduced the concepts at Monday afternoon’s library board meeting at the Hope Branch Annex. Hatton said he hopes the board will adopt the measures at next month’s meeting at 4 p.m. July 10 at the main building at 536 Fifth St. in downtown Columbus.
“I’m happy with what I see right now,” board member Stephen Shipley said of the written proposal. “But I just want to make sure.”
He added that it has been satisfying watching the ideas for proposed changes evolve amid a complete teen section audit over the past few months.
The proposals include peripheral issues such as making a concerted and intentional effort to further diversify the teen collection to better reflect the community’s diverse religious, ethnic and other backgrounds and interests.
“The specific word I keep coming back to here is intentional,” Hatton said in reviewing the ideas for the board.
The suggestions are another outgrowth of public outcry that began earlier this year about titles and books with more mature and sexual themes. Some community members, including a few local Christian pastors, expressed concerns that some books on the teen shelves are too close to a younger demographic’s material and could be viewed too easily by unsupervised youngsters.
Hatton has repeatedly pointed out that such proximity has never been the case.
“That has been incorrect,” he said again on Tuesday of the criticism.
Hatton also said after the meeting that he did not know how those who originally expressed concern would react to the proposal.
The teen subcommittee is composed of library staffers Christina Kelley, Dakota Hall, Tyler Munn, Rachel Akemon, and Decker Cavosie.
In other updates, the board is considering a policy for naming a segment of the library in honor of a person. Hatton said the idea surfaced after the January death of Steve Suckow, who served as library director from 1967 to 2003.
“I understand that naming things to honor people always can be really, really tricky,” Hatton said. “And I think you have to be very judicious.”
Even with that said, Hatton mentioned that Suckow’s lengthy service is worthy of recognition in some way.
Hatton said that, in the past, the issue arose after Mayor Jim Lienhoop requested that the board name the library plaza for longtime community leaders J. Irwin and Xenia Miller, who were instrumental in the library’s construction by noted architect I.M. Pei. The board took no action that proposal.
