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 placement rules. “We are not asking to ban any books,” said Amy Hintz, “We’re just asking these books to be placed in the section where parents can choose.”

Other speakers warned against removing or restricting books. Susan Hook, who addressed the board in the second public period, cautioned that some social-media claims about the library’s holdings were inaccurate and cited a court case she said undercuts broad removal of books: “There simply is no interest, let alone a compelling one, in restricting access to not obscene, fully protected library books solely on the basis of the majority’s disagreement with their perceived message,” she read aloud from the opinion she referenced (identified in the record as “Sund v. Wichita”).

Several speakers described personal experiences. Debbie Wilcox said her 10-year-old had encountered illustrations she found “horrific” and urged rules that prevent minors from checking out adult materials without parental consent. By contrast, Rhonda Lauren and other commenters emphasized that LGBTQ children and other underrepresented groups deserve representation in library collections and that removing materials would harm those youths’ sense of belonging.

Commissioners debated the matter publicly but emphasized the limits of their authority. Chairman Howell told attendees that the board’s role is appointing trustees, not setting library collection policy: “This board does not decide anything about books one way or the other. We appoint people that we have confidence in to serve on the library board.” Commissioner Wise said he expects the library board to pursue age-appropriate restrictions, while Commissioner McMahon said the current library leadership had plans to protect children and that commissioners who supported Lawrence had not reviewed the specific contested books.

After the vote, Howell urged both sides to lower the temperature and work together to preserve community goodwill that supports library millages and operations.

The library board vacancy filled Thursday is a partial term ending Dec. 31, 2028. The meeting transcript shows the discussion began during the first public comment period when residents raised the matter and concluded at the roll call appointing Lawrence.

Next steps: The library board, not the county commission, handles collection policy and any restrictions or permissions that determine where materials are shelved and how minors access them. Several speakers asked the commission to press the library board for age-restriction policies and for parental-notification systems; the transcript records public calls for such changes but does not record any directive from the commission to adopt specific rules.