Garfield County Libraries are some of the best assets in our communities. 

⭐️ Our libraries are welcoming and accessible to ALL. 

⭐️ Our libraries build FREE programming for youth, adults, and seniors, tailoring events to our communities’ interests and needs.

⭐️ Our libraries are one of the few places in our communities where you’ll find people of every age, color, and income level working and enjoying themselves side by side. 

⭐️ Our libraries inspire us all to be thoughtful, open-minded, life-long learners.

Recently, the Garfield County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) put this all at risk by taking control over the selection of the Library Board of Trustees. This comes after many months of community members attacking certain materials available at the libraries and the BOCC denying the appointment of a prospective Library Board of Trustee member, Hanna Arauza (Rifle).

We ❤️ our Garfield County libraries and are working to protect them from censorship and undue regulation by the Garfield County BOCC.

Critical Points of Reference

  • The Garfield County BOCC has not shared their intent.

    Why did they vote to take control of the process of selecting new library trustees? What are they trying to accomplish?

  • Parents should have the freedom to decide what their kids can or cannot read.

    Neither library staff nor elected officials should be deciding what kids can or cannot read.

  • The role of libraries is to provide free access to books and information, and not to restrict access to certain books

    The vast majority of Americans are in agreement on this issue.

  • The local movement to restrict access to books is connected to a national movement led by far-right groups and is part of their larger agenda to roll back LGBTQ+ rights and prevent teachings around racism.

    The books that are being targeted are disproportionately those that address LGBTQ+ themes or address the issue of racism.

    These groups, such as Moms for Liberty, are also advocating for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and opposing any teaching about racism in our schools.

Resources

  • Timeline of Events

    Detailed information on the events leading up to now.

    Learn More

  • Media Coverage

    Local news coverage of the library controversy.

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  • Ways to Support

    Resources on writing letters to the editor and other actions.

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  • Upcoming Events

    Schedule of events including BOCC meetings and community events to support the libraries.

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Words from our Community

  • "The BOCC is completely unqualified to make these appointments. They have exhibited little interest in the outstanding accomplishments of the GCPLD. The only interest they have shown recently is in response to a fringe group of conspiracy theorists attempting to control what the library has on its shelves."

    Carol O’Brien, LTE in Post Independent, March 11, 2024

  • "When you couldn’t intimidate the library trustees last fall with respect to the banning of certain books unpopular with a particular county constituency, you’ve decided to try another method to browbeat and bully the residents in this county.”

    Ellen Dole, Public Comment at Garfield County BOCC Meeting, March 18, 2024

  • "In the past year the BOCC has pandered to a small group of constituents who are challenging the integrity and independence of GarCo Public Libraries. The BOCC went so far as to ‘God Bless’ the bigoted remarks of this group during a BOCC hearing."

    Michele Brower, LTE in Post Independent, March 13, 2024

  • “I’m pretty confident that, left to themselves, the [BOCC] will continue to be flagrant in their belief that they can do whatever the heck they please. So the possibility is still there for some sort of legal recourse. And we’re looking at a commissioner election and, somehow, library materials wound up as one of the deciding questions for all the [county commissioner] candidates. So will this be decided by the voters? Will it be decided by the courts? I don’t know yet.”

    Jamie LaRue, Executive Director of Garfield County Libraries, in an interview with the Sopris Sun, published March 27, 2024