HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The library board in Sumner County is set to review dramatic changes to their book collection policies.

Sumner County has five public libraries. These proposed changes would reduce the decision-making power of each library director, instead giving more decision making to the library board itself.

“What we’re seeing is a stripping away of power from our library directors, who have worked hard to get where they are,” said Megan Lange, chair of the Sumner County Democratic Party. 

Lange previously worked for the county’s library system before stepping away in 2023 following the turnover of the library board. 

“Members of the library board didn’t even have library cards before they were put on the board,” Lange said. “These are people that are making decisions about our libraries, without having any understanding of how a library should function, about how the library should benefit the communities. They’re making decisions about something that they don’t use or need.” 

The new policy proposal includes a declaration that the library board will remove books that violate state or local laws and an added excerpt detailing the exclusion of "transgender and gender confusing" materials from library shelves. 

“For someone to say that we are keeping, for lack of a better phrase, pornographic materials in the children's section of the library, that’s ridiculous!” expressed Lange. 

To view the full policy changes being proposed, click HERE and scroll to page 6. 

“[The board] is kind of one voice, at this point. It’s not a diverse board, it doesn’t represent our community,” said Hilary Lounder, a Sumner County resident who has become fully invested in their local libraries. “They’ve taken what their role is supposed to be and have tried to expand it further and further.” 

Lounder expects the situation to escalate more and more and “probably end up with the ACLU.” 

“There has been pushback. The last 2 people that have been nominated [for seats] have been nominated a total of 9 separate times, and have yet to get enough votes to be on the board,” Lounder explained. “So the board is sitting with quite a few empty seats.” 

Sumner County’s Library Board held discussions of the bylaw changes in early April. Here’s what Chair Joanna Daniels said about protecting children from certain books: 

“This is not about checking out off materials. This is about having access in the library, you know what I mean. And we don’t want them to have access to go get a book, go read it and put it back. That was the whole reasoning behind this. And again, parents or legal guardian, if they want to give it to their children, they can do it all they want. They can check it out.” 

The library board will meet Wednesday at 3:30 pm in Gallatin. They will also discuss changes to their fundraising policy.

News 2 reached out to the library board for a comment and contacted board chair, Joanna Daniels, directly. As of publication, we have not heard back.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/sumner-county-library-board-considering-overhaul-of-policies-book-material/