Novi mayor Bob Gatt appointed Sreenivas Cherukuri to the Novi Library Board in February 2021, along with appointees Kathy Crawford and Katherine Dooley. Mr. Cherukuri serves as the chair of the library board's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. Mr. Cherukuri's public Facebook posts included racist, homophobic, transphobic and misogynistic content which make him unsuitable to lead the library’s DEI efforts.

The Novi Library Board has been contentious since the formation of an Equity and Inclusion committee in July 2020. Trustee Michener, the only Black trustee, was appointed as chairperson and proposed a statement of commitment to the Novi community and to equity and inclusion, which received no support from the six other trustees. In the months to follow, tensions rose and tempers flared as Trustee Michener alleged mistreatment by her fellow board members. Public comment echoed these concerns, as well as dissatisfaction with repeated delays by the library board in approving a hate speech policy. 

Gatt’s appointments to the library board in 2021 only served to further divide the board. Kathy Crawford, the former Republican state representative, was elected president and promptly removed Trustee Michener as chair of the DEI committee, replacing her with Mr. Cherukuri. Perhaps best known for his failed bid to be the Republican nominee for State Representative in 2020 or his "Kavanaugh is Innocent" billboards (https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2018/10/05/we-talked-to-the-guy-who-put-a-kavanaugh-is-innocent-billboard-in-detroit Trustee Cherukuri has not put forth a single motion as chair of the DEI. He has repeatedly opposed the DEI efforts of former chair Michener, a therapist, author and speaker with expertise in racialized trauma. Michener’s motion to make Juneteenth a paid holiday was opposed by both Cherukuri and Crawford, as was a motion to approve a statement of acknowledgement of recent hate towards the Black and Asian communities.

Since Mr. Cherukuri’s Facebook posts were exposed at the most recent board meeting, he has removed or changed privacy settings on some of his content, yet many offensive posts remain public. Emails to Mayor Gatt have received no response. Novi Library Board President has responded to NNRAAA emails regarding Mr. Cherukuri with a brief reply stating, “The Novi Library volunteer board is dedicated to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion. I assure you that racism will not be tolerated.” We, the undersigned, call for the immediate removal of Sreenivas Cherukuri as chair of the Novi Public Library Board’s DEI committee and for Mayor Gatt to request his resignation from the Library Board of Trustees.