HEPL [FN1] board held meetings 8/24 (2 & 3-5 pm) in Noblesville. Sign-in sheets, 1 for each meeting, were on a table outside a packed room. [FN2] A sheet of paper listing “guidelines” for attendees & for public comments was handed to all who entered the room. 1/9

1) Tough to follow: a) poor sound system & b) unclear who presided. [FN3]
2) Barnes & Thornburg (B&T) att’y asserted atty-client privilege when Bd member Michelle Payne asked about items on the bills ($9,125 and $2,506). [FN4] [FN5] [FN6] 2/9

3) Different slate of officers than discussed 8/18 by Aldering, Crandley & bd member Ray Maddalone [FN7] was elected: Tiffany Ditlevson, pres; Craig Siebe, v.p.; & Maddalone, sec’y.
4) For now, the removal policy that has made Ham Co a laughingstock. Is suspended. 3/9

5) Meeting got creepy when Maddalone read from “The Fault in Our Stars,” John Green’s novel removed fr the teen section for review under the policy.
6) Board members repeatedly referred to “the ‘f word.’” This is the 21st Century, even in some parts of Indiana, SCOTUS long ago held the “f word” is protected speech. [FN8] 4/9

Publishers already catalogue books by age-appropriateness. This policy only:
a) panders to benefit 2 GOP board members who R candidates 4 public office &
b) wastes time & $. 5/9

Kids in Ham Co: 1) seek admission to good colleges w/high academic standards; 2) don’t benefit when the library in the place they’re from is the brunt of jokes about censorship; & 3) will know & joke about it. “They are hung up about the word ‘fuck’?” That’s everyday language..6/9

Footnotes: FN1. Hamilton East Public Library; FN2. Friends advised me “They don’t like ‘absurd’ and ‘asinine’” on this platform. So noted; FN3. Outgoing pres Aldering called mtgs to order, but didn’t maintain order re: bd members & atty. 7/9

Footnotes: FN4. To assert priv, person must show (1) atty-client relationship existed & (2) confid communication was involved. Lahr v. State, 731 N.E.2d 479, 482 (Ind. Ct. App. 2000); FN5. Gen’ly billings not privileged. Boulannger v Ohio Eye Inst, 82A01-1705-CT-992.; 8/9

Footnotes: FN6. Someone indicated 8/24 B&T resigned as counsel eff 8/31, but board has a right to see billings & itemized statements; FN7. Maddalone spoke of firing the Library Director & how he would run things as president. FN8. Cohen v California, 403 U.S. 15, 25 (1971). 9/9