VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Valley City Barnes County Public Library will be holding a public hearing regarding the book “Let’s Talk About It” by Erika Moen.

The hearing will be held at the Skoal Room, which is located on the campus of Valley City State University in the Student Center, on Thursday January 5th at 5:30pm. The hearing will be in front of the Library Board and hosted by the Library Director. The public is welcome to come and observe the public hearing.

Persons wishing to speak must register prior to speaking, giving their name, address, and organization represented (if any.) No member of the public will be allowed to speak without having signed up ahead of time. The Library Director will call a speaker by name to stand up and speak, there will be no speaking out of turn or trying to talk over someone else while they hold the floor. The speaker must present a written copy of their testimony to the board before speaking. Each speaker will have 4 minutes to speak and then the board is allowed to ask them questions. After all speakers have finished the board will gather the submitted testimonies and deliberate, giving their decision within two weeks of the hearing being held. The decision made by the board will be final and no more appeals can be made in regard to this book.

Steps to take if a community member wants to speak at the hearing.
1. Contact the Library Director with name, address, and organization represented (if any).
2. Show up at the hearing on January 5th .
3. Wait to be called upon by the Library Director during the hearing.
4. Hand the board members a written copy of the testimony.
5. You have 4 minutes to speak as you hold the floor.

If a community member cannot attend the hearing in person they are free to submit a written testimony to the director. All testimonies received will be given to the board when they begin their deliberations.

For more details call the library director at 701-845-3821, or you can email support@vcbclibrary.org

Since September, a group of citizens in Valley City, have been asking the library director and the board of directors to remove the book from library circulation due to its graphic images and (according to the group) the controversial message it portrays about human sexuality.