CHESHIRE - The books haven't arrived at the Cheshire Public Library yet, but Library Advisory Board members and residents are upset that a book on the Petit killings - written mainly from the perspective of one of the suspected killers - will soon be available there.

More than a dozen residents attended Monday's board meeting to protest the decision by library Director Ramona Harten to buy two copies of "In the Middle of the Night," by Brian McDonald. Those residents weren't able to speak before the board, though, because the room was beyond its capacity of 15 people.

Harten said she had spoken to Town Attorney Dwight Johnson about the possibility of overcrowding at the meeting. Johnson then put the question to the state Freedom of Information Commission.

"The advice from the Freedom of Information Commission was that it would be in violation of the Freedom of Information Act" to exclude any residents from the meeting, Harten said, so all those wanting to speak on the book issue were asked to leave the meeting and the issue wasn't brought up.

A special meeting of the advisory board will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday in Town Hall, 84 S. Main St.

Kimberly Mach intends to speak at that meeting and said she'll tell friends to attend as well.

"It's just unthinkable that they'd do something like this," she said. "This is our library. … I don't want to pay for that book."

Many in attendance Monday said they were boycotting bookstores and online sites that carry McDonald's book. Mach said she will be boycotting the library as well.

Mach and others wanted the library to wait until after the trial of Steven Hayes and Joshua Komisarjevsky to carry the book.

The book came out in September and is a narrative based on letters exchanged between the author and the imprisoned Komisarjevsky.

The attorney for the other suspect, Hayes, has filed a motion to hold Komisarjevsky in contempt of court for corresponding with McDonald and disobeying a court gag order on information about the case.

That hearing will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday in New Haven Superior Court.

Opponents of the book cited the gag order as sufficient reason to keep the book off the Cheshire library shelves until after the trial.

"It's not book banning; it's putting it off until after the trial," Mach said.

The inclusion of books is at the discretion of the library director, with input from the public and other librarians. Harten said she received requests for the book and there is a waiting list of 11 people to check out the books when they arrive.

"It is in our strategic plan to collect printed items about the town of Cheshire," she said. "This is an issue of performing my duty of providing information to the town."

Harten said she was not planning the read the book herself but said the decision to buy the book for the library was a professional one.

Board member Marilyn Bartoli said the decision to stock "In the Middle of the Night" showed insensitivity to a grieving community on the part of Harten.

"Maybe she's been on another planet for the last two years," Bartoli said. "What about Bill Petit's needs?"

Dr. William A. Petit is the only survivor of the 2007 home invasion in which his wife and two daughters were killed.

Two Republican candidates for Town Council, Joseph Bartoli and Anne Giddings, were present to voice their opposition to the book. Former Republican state Rep. Alfred C. Adinolfi was also present, calling the books' purchase "in poor taste."

Tamara Epstein lived four houses down from the Petit family and said she hopes the book will not be included in the library, particularly for the sake of children who might pick it up. She'll be attending Thursday's board meeting.

"Absolutely," she said, "and hopefully with more people."

jbuchanan@record-journal.com

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