Legislators address issues with Gunnison Library District

Protecting readers and staff

[  By Mark Reaman  ]

Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a bill earlier this month that clarifies issues associated with local public libraries. It also lays out how so-called “Requests for Reconsideration” and issues of potential censorship must be addressed by local libraries. Senate Bill 216 was passed by the state legislature this past session. It also adds protections for library employees and volunteers. In addition, it addresses an issue making its way through the Colorado court system in a case involving the Crested Butte News and Gunnison County Library District, Brookhart v. Reaman.

Gunnison County Library District director Drew Brookhart is appreciative of what the new legislation means for the library district. “SB24—216 helps our library board and librarians protect the community’s freedom to read and access information without censorship,” he said. “Open access to public libraries is a freedom everyone should cherish, nurture and protect.”

According to the state legislature website, the bill requires the board of trustees of a public library to establish written policies for the acquisition, retention, display and use of library resources and for the use of a public library facility. The bill specifies that a public library may remove a library resource from its permanent collection only if the library resource has been reviewed in accordance with an established policy for the reconsideration of library resources that complies with the standards established in the bill. The bill specifies that a librarian, media specialist, other employee, contractor or volunteer (employee) at a public library is not subject to termination, demotion, discipline or retaliation for refusing to remove a library resource before it has been reviewed in accordance with the public library’s policy for the reconsideration of library resources or for making displays, acquisitions, or programming decisions that the employee believes, in good faith, are in accordance with the standards established in the bill.

The legislation also touches on the issue brought to statewide attention in Brookhart v. Reaman and which has since been appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court by the Crested Butte News. The bill specifies that a request for reconsideration of a library resource is not a library user record as described in current law and instead is an open record under the “Colorado Open Records Act” (CORA). There has been no word on whether the state Supreme Court will take up the appeal filed by the News, and attorneys for both the Gunnison Library District and CB News have not commented on whether the legislation would impact the court proceedings.

The legislation is widely seen as an anti-censorship law that acknowledges the expertise of library staff in the selection of materials appropriate for various ages. People making requests for reconsideration of the library have to live within the district and public libraries have to make the resolution of the challenge publicly available. Attempts to use a library’s policies to ban books or censor collections is specifically called out for not being “use” of the library. The identity of the person filing a Request of Reconsideration is defined as an open public record that is fully discoverable under CORA. The law now prohibits the termination, demotion, discipline or retaliation of any library staff for refusing to remove a library resource before it has gone through the reconsideration process.

“This legislation solidifies the rights of individuals and families to make their own decisions about what they read and what their children read,” concluded Brookhart.