Suit asks court to reopen Gary Library’s main branch

• Reprints

Updated: February 28, 2012 8:18AM

Two Gary women are suing to force the Gary Public Library to reopen the main branch, which closed at the end of 2011.

The library’s board of trustees voted last year to shut down the Main Library and turn it into a museum and cultural center. However, Lovetta Tindal and Gloria Moreno, who are representing themselves, say in their lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Hammond that the decision violates Gary citizens’ constitutional rights.

The women say in the suit that the board did not have any public comment during the vote, which violated the First Amendment.

“The Main Library is like an mighty oak tree, the Main Library is the tree trunk with deep roots, and the branch libraries are its branches,” the suit says.

They also say the move violates the Fourth Amendment because the library is a “storehouse of knowledge,” and the board “searched and seized our home of knowledge.”

The suit goes on to say the board violated citizens’ right to life, citing the library as life.

The women are asking a judge to force the board to reopen the library immediately and repair it. They also want money that’s being held in a reserve fund to be spent on libraries.

Anthony Walker, president of the Library Board, could not be reached for comment.