Library: We Won't Take Down Nativity Scene

ELWOOD, Ind. -- A Nativity scene inside the Elwood Public Library will remain on display despite a complaint from a patron, officials said.

Library Director Jamie Scott said a man who said he was an atheist complained last week about the religious display depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. Scott said she spoke with a lawyer before deciding to keep the Nativity scene.

In a letter to the library board provided to 6News from the man who said he complained about the display, Tyson Wheeler -- who said he has worked as a librarian -- said he never used the term "atheist" and that he simply wanted to talk to Scott about the display.

"My professional experience as a librarian causes me to question the legality of displaying a nativity scene within a public library, which is why I wanted to discuss the issue with a fellow professional," Wheeler wrote in the letter. "It was in response to the director’s unprofessionalism and unwillingness to engage in professional discourse that I demanded the display be removed."

After learning of the complaint, about 30 Elwood residents rallied Monday outside the library in support of the display.

Scott said this is the first time anyone had made a formal complaint in the 30 years the display has been set up in the library. Wheeler said he wants the library board to terminate Scott as director.