CHESHIRE - Pressure to remove a book about the Petit homicides from library shelves isn't going away.

That's according to Chris Gilleylen, a neighbor of the Petit property who has been working to overturn the public library's decision to stock "In the Middle of the Night."

Gilleylen and others formed Citizens Ask for Re Evaluation after public hearings failed to move either Library Director Ramona Harten or the Library Advisory Board to keep the book off the shelves.

Although supporters of the book have been framing the issue as "a freedom of speech thing," Gilleylen said, "It's more of a victim's rights thing. It needs to be reframed."

"In the Middle of the Night," by Brian McDonald, is written mainly from the perspective of one of the co-defendants in the triple homicide case, Joshua Komisarjevsky. Gilleylen and others feel the book was written in violation of a court gag order, and Gilleylen said she began an online petition several months ago to block the book's distribution and sale.

An attorney for Steven Hayes, the other co-defendant, said Komisarjevsky violated the gag order by talking to McDonald and requested a delay of jury selection due to the inflammatory nature of the book, but a New Haven Superior Court judge rejected the request last week and set jury selection for Jan. 19.

The five-member group, which calls itself CARE, will make official library material reconsideration forms available to residents and then will deliver them to the library, Gilleylen said. She said more than 100 forms asking for a reconsideration of the book have been collected. She expects those forms to be delivered by the end of the week, saying they'll have more impact if delivered en masse.

Gilleylen said some businesses in town seemed willing to provide forms for residents, although she declined to name the businesses.

Material reconsideration forms go to Harten, who will review the book in question and compare it to the materials selection policy. Harten and the board reviewed that policy in November and concluded - with the single dissenting vote of Republican board member Marilyn Bartoli - that "In the Middle of the Night" should be included in the library's collection.

"That policy was followed in this case," said Harten, who has authority over which items the library stocks.

Books are chosen based in part on demand and local relevance, according to the materials selection policy.

Harten said she had received one reconsideration form about the book, in October. Reconsideration forms are rare for the library.

"Maybe one a year," she said.

The library bought two copies of McDonald's book, both of which are on loan and have a waiting list.

The form asks if petitioners have read the book and what they feel would be the result of someone reading it, among other questions.

Gil Linder, a Republican Planning and Zoning Commission member and president of the Deaconwood homeowners' association, has read excerpts of "In the Middle of the Night" but doesn't wish to read the rest. He plans to submit a reconsideration form to the library.

"It's, in my opinion, not high-class writing," he said. "It appears to be a kind of voyeuristic thing."

The gag order was also a reason to oppose the book, Linder said.

"Why would I want to facilitate" breaking the gag order, he said.

Linder has helped distribute the forms, but said he doesn't expect that Harten will reverse her decision. The library forms are one of the last options for pulling the book from the library, he said.

jbuchanan@record-journal.com

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