Lapeer County appoints Bonnie Lawrence to library board amid heated public debate over children’s access to materials

Bonnie Lawrence was appointed to a partial term on the Lapeer District Library Board by a 5-2 roll call vote Thursday, concluding more than two hours of public comment in which residents urged the county to either restrict or preserve access to certain library materials.

The appointment filled one partial term on the library board; Commissioners Zender, Hagedorn, Kemp and Commissioner Wise and Chairman Howell voted for Lawrence, while Commissioners Nisley and McMahon voted for candidate Christine Newton, according to the roll call held at the meeting.

The contested appointment came after multiple speakers during the meeting’s public-comment periods urged sharply different approaches to library policy. Some parents and community members testified that children can access sexually explicit or age-inappropriate material without parental permission and called for new age restrictions or…