LTE: County Commissioners Side with Fringe Group to Replace Jocelyn Durrance
Library board
Jocelyn Durrance was the Carbondale Branch Library’s trustee to the Garfield County Public Library District (GCPLD) board for five years and involved in library sciences for 30 years. Yet, she was recently replaced on the board for what appear to be strictly political reasons by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC).
Commissioner Tom Jankovsky explained he “wanted to see more diversity and less groupthink on the board.” Diversity! Tom, you’re going to lose your MAGA stripes using words like that. I guess diversity is okay as long as it’s diverted toward the right.
This all seems to be inspired by the efforts of a group called Garfield County Patriots to get GCLD Executive Director Jamie LaRue fired. In a Facebook post, western Garfield County firebrand Trish O’Grady said that could be accomplished if conservatives had a majority on the library district board.
Durrance said, “I think there is a group within Garfield County who is making a huge effort to stack the board with trustees who represent an ideology not consistent with the mission of public libraries.” I would add, not consistent with the sentiments of Carbondale, either. Library staff isn’t “a babysitting service,” Durrance said, and parents should be in control of what their children read.
Until recently, the library board chose their own trustees, but the BOCC has taken over that authority and wielded it with a heavy hand. In November, Hanna Arauza, wife of Commissioner Mike Samson’s political opponent Steven Arauza, was rejected for the Rifle library board trustee position by the BOCC even though she was approved by the library board.
All this is part of a concerted effort by the right wing to take control of the centers of learning. They took a hit in August when Re-2 school board member Tony May was recalled for promoting the American Birthright social studies program.
Fred Malo Jr.
Carbondale