LUDINGTON — Sally Stern-Hamilton’s literary work — a disturbing look at life in the library — wound up on the shelves at Mason County District Library.

It got her shelved there as a library assistant.

Now, Stern-Hamilton, a Ludington woman whose "Library Diaries" chronicles unsavory characters in a place she called "Denialville," has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the library violated her free-speech rights by firing her.

“(Stern-Hamilton’s) First Amendment interests, combined with the interests of the public, outweigh the government’s interest in the efficient performance of the workplace,” her attorney, David Blanchard wrote.

“(She) was explicitly fired for engaging in protected speech.”

Library director Robert Dickson declined to comment. Attorney Kathleen Klaus, representing the library, Dickson, and Marilyn Bannon, president of the library board, said she would respond to the complaint next month.

The controversy created headlines three years ago when Stern-Hamilton was fired from her job of 14 years.

She wrote the book, intended as fiction, under the pen name, Ann Miketa.

“After working at a public library in a small, rural Midwestern town (which I will refer to as Denialville, Michigan, throughout this book) for 15 years, I have encountered strains and variations of crazy I didn’t know existed in such significant portions of our population,” she wrote in the introduction.

A description reads: “Open this book and you’ll meet the naked patron, the greedy, unenlightened patrons, destination hell, the masturbator, horny old men, Mr. Three Hats, and a menagerie of other characters you never dreamt were housed at your public library.”

Once the library learned that Stern-Hamilton wrote the book, it suspended her. She was then fired. The Associated Press reported Dickson wrote in a letter to Stern-Hamilton that the characters in the book were easily recognizable.

“While you stop short of naming the individuals you targeted in your book, your detailed descriptions of their unique characteristics and mannerisms make them easily identifiable in our small community,” the AP quoted Dickson as writing.

The book has drawn a wide range of reviews on Amazon.com, which had 11 used books on sale, starting at $47.99.

One reviewer, who once worked at the library, wrote: “I am deeply angered that this book led to the author’s firing. I may not agree with everything she says, but she paints an accurate picture of what goes on every day at your local library.”

Another said: “Excruciatingly badly written prose plus very mean-spirited accounts of patrons, thinly disguised by changing their names, and, ultimately bad taste all around.”

In the lawsuit, Stern-Hamilton alleged that her complaints about older men stalking young girls in the library went ignored. She said that older men would follow girls or “otherwise make girls uncomfortable … .”

One girl, with her grandfather, told her in 2008 that a man had been following her all day and rubbing himself. The girl, who was told by her parents not to leave the library, hid for hours under a table, Stern-Hamilton alleged in the lawsuit.

“Ms. Stern-Hamilton had complained about (the man’s) actions to supervisors on multiple occasions,” Blanchard wrote in the lawsuit.

“Also in 2008, a different man was stalking a different young teenage girl who was attempting to do her homework,” Blanchard wrote. “Instead of dealing with the older man … Dickson had the girl move to the back of the library where employees work.”

E-mail John Agar: jagar@grpress.com